Cast Iron Alchemist
by Hyruler
Summary: Anthony Elric's grandfather died. In his will he left Anthony a trunk, containing Ed's Amestrian artifacts. Anthony unwittingly transports himself through the truth to Amestris, and finds it's a very different place than his grandpa wanted it to become.
1. Chapter 1

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter one: the wannabe alchemist

A young boy stood in front of a grave. His grandfather Edward had recently died. This boy's name was Anthony, Anthony Elric. He was very close to his grandpa Ed, and enjoyed listening to his wild stories of the alchemist with a metal arm and leg.

Edward had lived a long and happy life, dying of old age at 89. He had outlived his wife, Winry, and his brother, Anthony's great uncle Alphonse. Edward had two children in his life time, a boy he named Curtis, and a girl he named Nina. Nina went to join her son at the grave. "Anthony," she said softly, "It's time for the reading of the will."

He nodded and followed her up to the funeral home. Anthony's father had died from pneumonia when he was young, so he always saw Edward as a father figure. Anthony sat down in the funeral home and brushed his blonde hair from his gold eyes. The Attorney read the will out loud for all to hear. He read out each inheritance carefully in a clear voice. "...And to my Grandson, Anthony, who loved to listen to my stories, hanging on each word, I leave the chest in my attic, the one with my name written in gold."

Anthony looked down, crying silently inside himself. When the reading ended, everyone one got up and left to the estate to collect their inheritance. Anthony carried the trunk into the back of his car, not even bothering to open it, and brought it home to his room, setting it in the corner. He spend the next hour reflecting on his grandfather, and his stories. His favorite tale was when the alchemist liberated the religious town from a false prophet. That was the first story he had ever heard from him. After a while he sat up and stared at the chest, contemplating whether or not he should open it. He stared for a long time before getting up and walking over. He opened it slowly, looking inside. On top of the chest was a jacket, red with a symbol of a snake wrapped around a cross on the back. He set it to the side and checked at the next objects. Next was an old, rusted metal prosthetic arm, and a matching leg. He looked them over for a second, on the palm and the sole each had a name etched into it. "Rockbell." He thought for a second but no relation came to mind, so he set them aside. Next was a pocket watch, silver with a lion emblem on the front. Anthony tried to open it, but it was sealed shut somehow. The last item in the trunk was a pocket sized leather bound note book. Anthony flipped through the pages. Inside were stories, some that he recognized from his Grandfather. There were also sketches of circles with unique designs and notes on different chemical builds. Anthony looked confused. "Is this some sort of novel?" he asked to the empty room.

He down and started reading. It chronicled stories that even he hadn't heard.

Over the next few weeks Anthony started studying the notebook, wearing the pocket watch and the jacket. Occasionally he would practice drawing the circles, which he had discovered in his reading to be transmutation circles. He came across one written on the back page, though it had no explanation. It was very intricate, with writing around the circles that appeared to be a strange language. After looking it over for a few more days, he finally decided to try and draw it, working in the basement.

He had to rewrite the designs many times, drawing symbol after intricate symbol on the concrete floor. After a week of practising, he finally came close to completing it. He drew on the last symbol, looking it over with pride. Staring at this design, he felt an incredible sense of nostalgia, nostalgia for his grandfather's legacy. He began walking upstairs, but he slipped and fell. Anthony's palm landed flat on the circle, and it began to glow. He stood up, both palms on the circle, an eye opened up beneath him. Anthony couldn't believe his eyes as, suddenly, tendril arms grew from the eye and grabbed him. He resisted as best he could, but the arms pulled him in beneath the eye. Anthony struggled as best as he could, but he passed out.

When Anthony came to, he was lying in a grassy field. He sat up and looked around, trying to get his bearings. He didn't understand what had happened. Just a second ago he was in his basement. Everything after that was a blur. He stood up, and spotted a young girl. Her hair was a chestnut brown, and she was wearing a green nylon jacket. In her hand were grocery bags. Anthony ran toward her. "Excuse me miss!" he yelled to her.

She quickly turned around and spotted him. "Sorry to bother you, but...could you possibly tell me where I am?"

She smiled. "No trouble at all. This is the town of Risembool, in eastern Amestris."

Anthony couldn't make heads or tails of the names she was using. She looked him up and down, examining him carefully. "hey, you aren't from around here are you? My name is Alicia, Alicia Rivers, what's yours?"

Anthony paused for a sec. "It's Anthony, Anthony Elric."

She looked surprised as he spoke his name. "Did you say...Elric? As in Edward Elric?"

Anthony replied with his own look of surprise. "Wait...how do you know my grandfather's name?"

She paused briefly, staring at the ground. "Come with me, there's someone who'll want to meet you."

Anthony stepped back, a bit suspicious. "Whoa, I need to find my way home, I don't have time to waste meeting friends of yours."

Alicia looked pleadingly at him and grabbed him by the arm. "Please, it'll only take a few minutes."

Anthony stared at her, taking in her serious expression, and then sighed. "Fine, let's get this over with."

She smiled and began to walk, strolling along the street with Anthony following behind. She walked up to a lemon yellow two story house. The sign out front read "Rockbell Auto-mail" Anthony stopped and stared at it for a second. "Rockbell, that was the name on Grandpa Ed's old arm and leg."

She looked over at him and walked over. "Yeah, this is the Rockbell auto-mail shop, it's run by my grandma Winry."

Anthony looked at her. "Your grandma Winry?" he asked, surprised.

She shrugged and nodded. "Well she's not my legitimate grandmother, but she's always treated me like family since my parents died."

Anthony sighed with relief and followed her in. "This Winry, is this the person you wanted me to meet with?" he asked.

She nodded, stacking some apples in a basket. "Grandma Winry will want to see you, Edward Elric is an old family friend."

Anthony kept stacking food, contemplating what was going on. Once they were finished, he took a seat, his head was spinning. What was going on here? How did he come from his basement to some place called Risembool in some land called Amestris? His head was filled with questions, but he had no answers. Suddenly, the door opened, and a tall woman with Silvery white hair entered. Alicia stood up and smiled. "Grandma Winry! How was the service call?" she asked happily.

The woman smiled at her. "It went well, though it was hard work connecting the nerve endings." She said, smiling as she looked over at Anthony. "Oh, Who is your friend Alicia? I haven't seen him in here before."

Anthony just stared in shock, as if he had seen a ghost. The woman staring in front of him was the spitting image of his grandmother Winry. He stood up, staring at her with utter surprise. "I-I'm Anthony, Anthony Elric." he told her.

His name had the same effect on Winry as Alicia. She stared at him for a short time, trying to make sense of his words. "Alicia," she finally said, "Go tend to your flowers while I tend to this young man."

She nodded slowly and walked outside to the small flower garden. Winry walked over slowly and sat down. "Who are you?" she asked, a crack in her voice.

she was shaking, clearly upset. Anthony was no better, he stared back at her with serious eyes. "Anthony Elric."

She began to cry, enraged. "Don't sell me that! There are no Elrics in Risembool." she told him in a fit of anger. It was clear she had pulled herself into a pool of denial.

Anthony stood up, staring at her still. "I am Anthony Elric, I am the grandson of Edward Elric."

This only sent her to hysterics as she fell to the ground, crying on her knees. "Quit lying to me! Edward Elric is gone, he's gone and he's never coming back, just like his brother Alphonse!"

Anthony pulled the pocket watch from his waist and threw it to the ground. "Then explain why I have this!"

The watch fell in front of Winry, a burst of nostalgia replaced her tears. "Where did you...?"

He glared at her, tearing up. "This was given to me by Grandpa Ed in his will, this is his pocket watch."

She quickly picked it up and brought it over to her work bench, using her tools to pry open the front lid. Anthony glared. "don't bother, it was welded shut or something!" She kept working and got it open. "It was sealed with alchemy..."

she stared in at the watch, Anthony leaned over and read the makeshift inscription on the lid. "'Never forget, 3 Oct. 11?' what happened on 3 Oct. 11?" he asked.

Winry was once again brought to tears as she explained it to him. "It's the day Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse Elric burned down their house"

Anthony's mind began to collapse as he heard that final comment. He fell to his knees, too shocked to stand, remembering a part of the note book explaining that. "Wh...What the hell are you talking about?"

She continued to cry, memories of the past boiling to the surface once again. "they burned down their home, right here in Risembool, So that they couldn't turn back as they set out to restore their bodies."

Anthony was filled with Reminiscing tales of his Grandfather's notebook, he pulled it from his back pocket and stared at it. "Are you telling me this book is about my Grandfather's life?"

She turned and looked at the familiar notebook. "Wh-what? That's his notebook. Where did you get this? Just who are you?"

Anthony stayed on the floor, his legs too weak to support him. His emotions were in a fluster as he spoke. "I'm...Anthony Elric...Edward Elric's Grandson."

Once they had all had a chance to calm down, Anthony explained everything to Winry, all the way up to his arrival in Risembool. Winry stayed silent, taking it all in. She slowly smiled. "So I did live my life with Ed, it just wasn't exactly me." she said quietly.

Alicia came in at that moment, wound up. "Ugh, I wish those Military groups would just quit it already."

Anthony looked at her. "Military?" he asked.

Winry answered it for him. "the Amestrian Military, they've been scouting for state alchemists for months now, and they have their eyes set on Alicia."

Anthony looked confused. "But...In the book Fullmetal...Grandpa Ed wrote that people chose to be state alchemists, they weren't enlisted."

Alicia joined the two at the table and poured a glass of water. "That was the old way, but that way Disappeared with President Fuhrer King Roy Mustang."

Anthony recognized the name from the book and smiled for a moment. "So Mustang actually made king huh?"

Winry shook her head. "Yes and no. Roy Mustang was promoted to king, but it was short lived, when a group of 'liberators' came and drove him out, they claimed that he was a dictator trying to get into the office after killing President Fuhrer King Bradley. A new ruler took over the country and changed the rules, President Fuhrer King Simon."

Anthony shook his head. "but Bradley was a Homunculus!" he debated.

Winry sighed. "Only Ed's circle of resistance was aware of that though, so no one would believe it. Roy Mustang was caught after helping his wife, Riza, flee from Central. It's a shame though, She was pregnant from what I've heard."

Anthony shook his head. "Full...Grandpa Ed fought to save this capital from destruction and liberate the people from the military, but now it's become so much worse."

Winry looked down and sighed. "I know, this world is dying, and no one can seem to help it. It's getting late Anthony, you can stay the night here, and stay as long as you want. Any relative of Edward's is a relative of mine aswell. Alicia, please show him to an empty room."

She nodded and stood up, taking him to a room upstairs. "Good night Anthony, I'll see you tomorrow." she said as she shut the door and walked across the hall to her own room. Anthony layed down on the bed and tried his best to sleep.

Anthony awoke from a horrific nightmare and rubbed his head, shaking it off. He stared at the window, expecting to see his street outside. All he saw were the dirt roads of Risembool, and he couldn't help but let out a disappointing sigh. He stood up and walked out of the room. Across the hall he noticed there was a light creeping under the door. Anthony knocked slowly. The knock surprised Alicia and she let out a squeak. "U-umm come in." she said quietly.

Anthony opened the door and looked over at her, sitting at the desk. She had some colored gloves out and a sewing set. "what are you doing?" he asked as he walked over and examined a grey glove.

She smiled. "I'm sewing transmutation circles into these gloves, when I put them on all I have to do is place my palm to the surface where I want to transmute my alchemy and presto."

Anthony looked over the glove, recognizing the circle from the note book. "so you're an alchemist? Cool, do you have a specialty?"

she nodded and showed him a green glove with another circle he recognized from the book, next to an entry called "Copy cat bastards!" Alicia smiled and kept sewing another green glove. "it's botanic alchemy, transmuting plants." she explained.

She put the glove on and demonstrated, growing a small sapling in a pot of soil on her desk. Anthony smiled. "Impressive, you're really good."

Without thinking he pocketed the grey glove. Alicia blushed a little and smiled. "Thanks, though I wish those military jerks didn't see it the same way as you. They haven't left me alone about making me a state alchemist for the past two months."

Anthony sighed, hating the world for not changing like his grandfather wanted. She took the glove back off and put it with its mate. "the fun part is that I sew the circle in using the same color thread as the glove, so I can clap my hands together and it looks like I'm doing alchemy without a circle, like the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Anthony nodded, happy to see his grandfather was remembered by more than just him. "Well, I'd better get back to bed. Good night."

She nodded and let him leave, continuing her work.

Anthony awoke the next morning and walked downstairs. Alicia was already down there, making breakfast. She set a plate of pancakes down on the table in front of him as he sat. He smiled and started eating, Alicia brought her own to the table and smiled. "wow, you can really pile it down huh?" she smiled.

Anthony nodded. "My mom always said I have a fast metabolism, I could eat anything." he explained.

She nodded and slid him over a glass of milk. Anthony stared at it for a minute, then shook his head. "no thanks, I don't like milk."

She shook her head back and slid it closer to him. "You have to drink your milk, how are you supposed to grow tall and strong?"

Anthony glared at her. "it tastes gross, and I'm plenty tall." It was true he was taller than his grandfather at that age.

she stood up and held it out for him. "Like hell, just drink it Anthony."

He pushed it away. "I said no, get off my back."

Winry came in in the middle of their argument and couldn't help but giggle. Alicia looked over at her and smiled. "morning grandma Winry, breakfast is on the counter, you have to eat fast though, you have to go repair Thomas's arm today."

she nodded and sat down, eating. Anthony looked over at her. "um, Gra...Miss Winry, can I go with you and help out? I want to be at least a little helpful to you, since you're allowing me to stay here and all."

she looked over at him and smiled. For a moment she saw in his determined eyes an old friend. "sure, I haven't worked with someone since my grandmother died. Alicia tried it, but I think she should stick to her plant alchemy."

Anthony nodded, and after breakfast the two went out. Anthony watched as she worked, handing her parts and tools as she asked for them. Anthony was smiling on the way back home that afternoon. "wow, that was an amazing job. Automail is pretty amazing too. A joint that doesn't tire out or require workouts to strengthen, I think it'd be amazing. Miss Winry, can you give me automail?"

She glared at him, her anger had been rising as he spoke. "Do you think people like having automail? These people have lost their limbs, they have no choice. How dare you!"

Anthony looked down, sighing. "I...guess I never thought of that. I'm sorry."

as they approached home they noticed a group of soldiers talking to Alicia. She was glaring back at them. "For the last time, I won't join the state alchemists, I won't be one of your military dogs!" t

he soldier glared at her. "This is your last chance, come with us now!"

she pushed him back. "I said no!"

the soldier sighed. "fine then, my orders are clear then."

he pulled a gun from his coat and pointed it directly at her, along with the other two soldiers behind him. Thinking on his feet, Anthony pulled the alchemy glove from his pocket and put it on, diving to the ground just in time to produce a shield of rock in front of her. The soldiers turned their attention to Anthony, and he glared at them. The leader put his gun away and glared at him, and Anthony glared right back. The two stared off for some time before they started walking away. Winry ran over to Alicia's side, she was on her knees, sweating in fear. "Are you alright?"

she nodded. "Anthony saved me just in time."

He walked over and watched the soldiers walk away. "So this is what it's come to? Obey or die? Damnit...This has to end."

That night, Anthony sat in his room, looking over his Grandfather's book. Alicia came in with dinner and sat down. "what are you doing?"

Anthony put the book down and picked up his dinner. "I'm studying Alchemy from grandpa Ed's book. I think if I understand it then I can help change this world."

As he began eating, Alicia smiled. "thanks for saving me earlier today. If you want to learn about alchemy though you'll need a professionally written book, I'm sure you can find one in the market."

Anthony looked up. "That would be great, thanks."

she nodded. "I need to pick up groceries, you can come with me tomorrow."

he nodded back and kept eating. "So, you use botanic alchemy?"

she nodded. "My mother was a florist, and my father was an alchemist. Botanic alchemy is amazing. It helps nature and develops new life, and as long as I have my gloves or a circle I can't run out of materials, because the earth itself is the blueprint for my alchemy."

Anthony nodded. "You're the opposite of Mustang then." he told her.

She looked over at him. "Fuhrer King Mustang?"

he nodded. "he was called the flame alchemist in the army, he used a glove with a fire transmutation circle and could create a spark with the snap of his fingers. He destroys, and you create. You're opposites."

she nodded and stood up. "I'm going to bed, you should get your rest too. Alchemy is partly physical, if you don't sleep properly, it can affect you."

he nodded and finished his dinner, setting the plate on the night stand. "don't worry, I'll be sure to get plenty of sleep." he studied for another hour before laying down to rest.

The market was bustling with business, the two could barely make their way through the crowd. Alicia led Anthony over to a book store and walked him in, handing him a membership card and a note. "here, you can use my discount card, they'll put the money on my tab." she explained.

Anthony nodded and smiled. "thanks, I should be done in an hour."

she nodded back and left to do her grocery shopping. Anthony walked through the store, examining all the books on the shelves. After some time of exploring he found the alchemy books on a back shelf. He started looking at the names to find the proper books. He ended up buying four books, "An Introduction to Alchemy", "the Alchemist's kitchen", "Guide to Advanced Alchemic Circles", and "A History of Famous and Infamous Alchemists". He walked up and handed them the note and the card, smiling. The woman behind the counter smiled back, adjusting her glasses. "So Alicia finally found herself a man huh? And a cute one too."

Anthony blushed and shook his head. "N-no! Nothing like that, we're just friends!"

she giggled and bagged the books for him. "I know hon, just kidding around with you, have a nice day."

he stepped outside and waited for Alicia. It didn't take her long to return with the groceries. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked.

He nodded and took one of the grocery bags. "The cashier is very friendly, but she thought we were a couple."

She blushed and shook her head. "D-don't mind her, she's always messing with me." she explained.

The two walked home. As they approached the house, they saw smoke billowing up into the air. Alicia panicked immediately and dropped the bags, running toward the direction of it. Anthony followed behind her, doing his best to hold onto the bags. When they arrived, they found the house had been set ablaze. She fell to her knees and began to cry. "Grandma Winry could still be in there!"

without a second thought, Anthony dropped the bags and ran to the nearby well, pulling up a bucket of water and drenching himself before running into the burning building. Alicia sat there in shock, watching the doorway as he led Winry out from inside, she had fallen unconscious from the smoke. She ran to her side and looked her over. "is she alright?" she asked.

Anthony nodded. "I could feel her breathing while I was carrying her. I Also saved some pairs of your gloves."

he handed her the grey, blue, and green pair. She gave him back the blue pair. "Anthony please, do your best to put out the fire."

he nodded and took the gloves putting them on while she attended to Winry, carrying her to the doctor down the street. He ran back to the well and used the water to put out the fire, though he drained most of his energy. The house was burned and dilapidated, but it was still standing. Alicia came back and saw him lying in the grass. "Are you alright Anthony?"

he nodded and picked himself up, breathing heavily. "I just overdid it a bit, how's Miss Winry?"

she nodded, smiling. "She'll be alright."

Anthony got up and looked at the house. "I don't think anyone can live here anymore, it's a total wreck."

she nodded and walked in. "I'll work on collecting whatever we can salvage. Oh who could have done this...?"

Anthony glared at the ground. "I think we both know that answer. Their orders were clear remember?"

she nodded slowly. "to think they would go to such lengths..."

Anthony nodded. "I swear, I'm going to stop them."

Winry hadn't been burned by the fire, but her lungs had suffered a serious blow. She was able to walk, but she couldn't over exert herself. The three were staying in the doctor's house, which was typically empty while the doctor was out making house calls. Anthony had been reading and practising for the past week while Winry recovered. He had transmuted a jacket like the one he had back home and took to wearing it as he worked. Alicia would watch him and correct him as he worked. Winry walked into the room as the two were practising and tapped Alicia's shoulder. "Bring your gloves, I have a little project I want you to help me with."

Anthony turned to her. "what is it? I could help you."

Winry shook her head. "no, only Alicia can, but I do need to ask you something before we start."

Anthony stood up to face her. "Anthony Elric, do you truly intend to face the military?" she asked.

Anthony looked at her with a serious look in his eyes. "I do, I want to make the world my Grandfather worked to create."

she smiled and nodded. "Then I'll need Alicia's help."

Alicia got up to join her. When she returned, she found Anthony transmuting a patch to his jacket, one of a snake wrapping itself around a cross. "What's that? It looks familiar." Anthony stood up and put his jacket back on. "Grandpa Ed drew this in his book many times, and he used to wear it on his old jacket. Now it's going to be the symbol for the Fullmetal Brigade." he explained.

She looked it over curiously. "What's the Fullmetal Brigade?"

he smiled and erased the chalk circle with his foot. "It's the rebel group I'm going to form to overthrow this government, to make this land the way the alchemists of yesteryear envisioned."

She sat down and lost herself in thought for a second. "Anthony, Can I join?"

Anthony looked at her and sat across. "What about Miss Winry?"

she smiled and a tear was brought to her eye. "Those soldiers burned down the house to finish off me. Being here will only make things more dangerous for Grandma Winry. Besides, I want to help turn this world into the world both you and the alchemists envision. I want to make a world where I don't have to worry about Grandma Winry."

Winry stepped into the room and smiled. "I figured you'd say something like that. Anthony, I have something for you before you leave. I know you wanted automail, but I have the next best thing."

She showed him a metal arm armor for his right arm. He walked over and put it on, smiling. "This is great, this will be another symbol of the brigade."

he put on one of Alicia's gloves and transmuted the engraved symbol into the shoulder, and a transmutation circle into the palm. "there, now I won't have to draw a circle whenever I want to transmute, and I'll be able to put a scare into our enemies by clapping before I do." he said, smiling.

Winry nodded, smiling. "Just be sure that you take good care of my little botanic alchemist over there."

with that statement, an idea shot through Anthony's head. "Yeah, the Botanic Alchemist," he said, turning to Alicia, "From now on that'll be your code name. Now I need one too."

Winry smiled and tapped his armored arm. "The Cast Iron Alchemist, that's what I made your armor from."

Anthony nodded. "the Botanic Alchemist, and the Cast Iron Alchemist, the first two members of the Fullmetal Brigade."

Alicia smiled and nodded. Suddenly, an idea hit her. "Grandma Winry, do you have any cast iron left?"

she looked over and nodded, bringing it to her. She put on a grey glove and transmuted the left over cast iron into a pair of masks. The first one bore Winry's left swept bangs, a style she kept since childhood. The second one Anthony took carefully, it's design had a pair of bangs sticking out if it, hanging on either side down the face, just like Edward's. He smiled and put it on, looking through the eye holes. "Then it's settled, We're gonna take down this government and reshape this world."

the next day the two prepared to depart. Alicia had made her own green jacket matching Anthony's red, with the symbol on the back. Alicia waved back to Winry as they departed, and turned to Anthony. "so, what's first on the brigade's schedule?"

he smiled as he walked into the horizon. "We're gonna find an ex-heir and sign them up."

Winry saw them off. As she looked out at their backs, for a moment she felt she recognized Anthony's as he walked away. Finally the two left from sight, ready to write a new chapter in the Amestrian history books.


	2. Chapter 2

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 2: The ex-prince

A young man sat next to the window of an old house. He had a glass of gin in his hand, sipping it as he stared out at the landscape. His mother was recently deceased, and he had never known his father. He was a tall man, thin with his father's black hair, and his mother's blue eyes. He sat there, alone, saying nothing as he took another sip.

A military supply truck made it's way down a dirt road, headed toward eastern headquarters. Suddenly the truck came to a stop and refused to move. The two men driving got out to check for the problem. Somehow the tire had gotten wrapped in tree roots as they were driving. It was quick work getting the truck unstuck, and they were quickly back on their way. They had, however, failed to notice the two hitch hikers stowing themselves away in the back of the truck with the supplies.

Anthony and Alicia sat in the back of the truck, happy to be off their feet after four days of walking. They were in their casual clothing, all of their brigade gear stowed away in their backpacks. Anthony licked his lips. "sweet, in a couple of hours we'll be in town and we can grab a bite to eat. I'm starving."

Alicia also had a smile on her face, though her mind was in a different place. "we can get a bite to eat, but first I need to get a nice, warm shower."

Anthony leaned back and yawned. "Shower? Food is more important than that."

she glared over at him. "maybe to a boy like you, but for a woman appearance is the most important thing."

she ran her hands down her hair. "Just look, my hair is all greasy."

Anthony looked over at her. "It's not like we're going there to flirt or something, we need to find Riza Hawkeye."

Alicia layed back against a barrel of artillery. "What makes you think that she's even alive? Or that she had the baby?"

Anthony stared at the roof of the truck. "from what I've read, Roy Mustang was a man who looked out for his team, and his team did the same. I'm sure that if they couldn't get Mustang out, they would have at least saved Hawkeye. In fact, I bet that's how Mustang requested it. And that baby, I'm sure that she would have had it, they were in love after all."

Alicia looked at him for a second and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right, I hope this isn't a wild goose chase."

Anthony reached into his back pocket and began reading from Ed's note book. Alicia layed her head on her backpack and tried to sleep. After a while, the truck came to a stop. Anthony transmuted a small hole and looked through it. They were in the town, and the men had stopped for lunch. Anthony shrugged Alicia awake and opened the door, quietly closing it and walking through the streets of the town. They spotted a hotel down the road and Anthony checked his pockets for money. He had $3.00 on him. He turned to Alicia. "How much do you have on you?"

Alicia checked her pockets and showed him. "$50.00, we should have enough for a couple of nights at the hotel, but we'll need to save some money for food."

Anthony nodded and the two walked up to the hotel. Anthony smiled and dropped $30 on the table in front of the innkeeper. "A room for two, how long will this cover us?"

the innkeeper counted the money and smiled. "This should cover a week, thank you."

Anthony nodded and the two were led to their room. Anthony took a look around, but was knocked to the ground by Alicia on her way to the shower. With an "ow," Anthony got to his feet and sat down on the bed.

Alicia came back out fully dressed, drying her damp hair with a towel. "much better."

Anthony was sitting on his bed, some ice on his bruised shoulder. "Congratulations, can we go get something to eat now?"

She sighed, glaring at him. "You know if you worked harder on your appearance you might get some looks from girls."

Anthony stood up and stretched his arm. "I got plenty of looks back where I'm from, I just have my priorities straight. You can live without a shower, you need food to survive."

she stuck her tongue out teasingly for a moment, and the two went out to lunch. "So Anthony," she said, "How are we supposed to find out where this person is? We don't have any leads to go on."

Anthony shook his head and opened the note book from his back pocket. "Havoc, Fuery, Breda, Falman. All these men served under Mustang, at least one of them should know where Hawkeye is. All we need to do is find a way to get into the library to find their files."

Alicia smiled, sipping some coffee. "That shouldn't be too hard with that pocket watch on your waist."

Anthony looked at it and picked up the rusted watch. "With this? How will this help?"

Alicia giggled. "You're so slow, that's a state alchemist pocket watch, meaning that they'll let you into any military building as long as you look the part."

Anthony smiled and put it back in his pocket. He knew none of this would have been possible if not for his grandfather. "Alright then, we'll just walk in and get the information we need."

The two returned to the hotel room for a well earned night of rest.

The next day, Anthony made his way to the east headquarters library. He flashed his watch at the librarian and she let him pass. Thanks to some quick alchemy, the watched looked as nice as it did held by it's first owner. He made his way to the back of the library, where the personnel records were kept. He checked through all of the files and took notes in the back of the book, walking back out to join Alicia, waiting on a bench. She looked at him and smiled. "Good, they let you through. So what's the good word?"

Anthony sighed and opened the notebook to the page where he took the notes. "Havoc died of lung cancer, and Falman of old age. Breda lives far to the south, way in the outskirts of Amestris. Fuery works for the military here at eastern headquarters, but there wasn't a home address listed for him in the personnel file."

Alicia sighed and looked down at the ground. "Well, I guess for now we can try and get in touch with Fuery, he might know something. Did it say what position he had?"

Anthony nodded and gritted his teeth. "He's the general in charge of eastern headquarters."

Alicia said nothing, and the two sat there, thinking. Finally, Anthony stood up. "I'm not giving up, we'll just have to infiltrate eastern headquarters and get to Fuery."

Alicia stood up, looking worried. "Anthony, what if he's changed sides?"

Anthony shook his head. "No way, he was too close to Mustang. This must be one of those 'keep your enemies closer' sort of things. It just has to be."

Alicia looked at the seriousness in his face and smiled, his false hope somehow reassuring to her. "so what's the plan?"

That night, dressed in their brigade clothing, the two made their way to the wall of eastern headquarters, dodging past the guard patrols. Alicia pressed her palm to the wall and made a ladder of tree roots up the wall. The two scaled the wall, climbing up to the top. Once up, they looked around for the general's office. It stood across from them, six stories high, with Fuery's office at the very top. There were patrols all over the ground, they would have to make their way across the wall, which was no problem. Anthony transmuted a peep hole against the building's wall and looked inside to make sure the coast was clear before creating an opening for the two to crawl through. He was careful closing it once they were in. With their thin stature, it was no problem for the two of them to make their way through the vents.

Within minutes, they had made their way to the vent in Fuery's office. He sat there, working on paperwork. He was a mature man, his glasses held the wisdom of a long lived life. Anthony opened the vent and fell down into the office, with Alicia following him. Fuery panicked and reached for the security button, but he froze up when he saw Anthony's mask. "Wh...who are you?" he demanded.

Anthony took out his pocket watch and showed him the inscription. "You can call me the Cast Iron Alchemist, General Fuery. My associate is the Botanic Alchemist. We are both members of the Fullmetal Brigade, seeking to take down this country's military. We aren't here to hurt you, we just want some information on an old friend of yours." he explained.

Fuery calmed himself, stood up straight and walked around his desk, leaning on it. "Let me see your real faces, then I'll decide if I want to cooperate."

Anthony paused for a second, but nodded and removed his mask. Alicia saw him removing it and, a but reluctantly, she did so too. "There, now we have nothing to hide."

Fuery looked at them and shook his head. "revealing yourselves to the enemy, do you have a death wish?"

Anthony shook his head. "I don't believe you are our enemy general. We're trying to bring down this military, and we're looking to find Riza Hawkeye to help us, if you know where she is."

Fuery looked down for a second, thinking. Finally, he nodded. "It's true, we were able to rescue her at the cost of Mustang, but past that was not my duty. Everyone quit but me, they wouldn't let me. I was the youngest member, and they saw I had great potential. The last time I got in touch with them was a letter from Havoc. He told me that Riza's child had been born and that she was safe."

saying nothing for a moment, he wrote down a town and address on a piece of paper. "This is the last known address, it's a couple towns over. And if you're serious about destroying this oppressive military, then just tell me what I can do to help."

Anthony smiled and put his mask back on, pocketing the address. "Thanks, you've done more than enough for now, General Fuery. I'll keep in touch if we need any help."

a call came on the intercom for Fuery. "General! There are some strange ropes on the wall of the headquarters, they look like a ladder!"

Fuery replied immediately. "Send all available officers to investigate."

Anthony and Alicia were already gone before he finished his reply.

The man had left the window, now sitting at a work desk with some papers in front of him, military reports. He read them over and over, trying to make sense of it all. The reports were relating to the trial and execution of Roy Mustang, but none of it made sense to him. He opened a drawer in the desk. Inside was a pair of white gloves, a detailed transmutation circle hemmed into it. He merely stared at it, then closed the drawer.

Anthony and Alicia walked sluggishly in the hot sun, following the dirt roads to the small town of Rebitan. They had been walking for a long time, their legs tired, almost moving on their own. Anthony sighed. "Damnit, I'm sick and tired of walking."

Alicia glared at him. "Well if you hadn't payed for a week's stay in a room we spent two days in and drowned all our extra money filling your stomach we might have taken the train, but now we're broke and walking so just shut up about it." she replied angrily.

The two continued to walk, tired and frustrated. Finally, near mid day, they stopped under a tree to relax their tired legs. Alicia sighed and sipped from her canteen. "It's so hot, my skin is going to burn."

Anthony said nothing, reading from his grandfather's note book. Alicia looked over and handed him the canteen. "here, you need to keep your strength up. Why do you read that book so much, I thought you read through it already."

Anthony took the water and sipped it, turning back to the book. "the more you read, the more details you see that you didn't see before. Back where I came from, this was just a story book to me, now it's the bible of the brigade, it has all his secrets to alchemy, all his special techniques, and all his information on the secrets of this world. The more I reread, the more I discover, and the more information I have on who we're facing."

Alicia looked at him with a bit of awe at his answer, then couldn't help but giggle. Anthony looked over at her. "what's so funny?" he asked.

Alicia smiled. "It's just so weird, sometimes you're smart, and sometimes you're dumb. You're just an odd person Anthony."

Anthony glared, closing the book. "just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

she shrugged and smiled. He gave her a confused look and turned back to his book. "That reminds me, I have a question for you, about botany."

she looked over and shuffled a bit closer. "Yeah? What is it?"

Anthony pointed to a line on the page. "Grandpa Ed made a note right here, 'If it weren't all sand, if I had just a little bit of grass, I could make some bread. Damn sand,' is that true? Can you transmute grass into bread?"

Alicia stared down at the grass and ran her hand across it, thinking. "Well," she finally said, "I guess it's possible, grass and grains are very similar in composition after all."

Anthony smiled. "So you can transmute it then?"

She shrugged. "I've never done it before, but it's theoretically possible."

Anthony set down a cloth and the two started collecting grass, pouring it onto the cloth. Alicia put her glove on and pressed her palm to the grass. With a flash of green light, two small buns lay on the cloth. Anthony quickly grabbed one and bit into it. His enjoyment was short lived, however, as he spit out grass clippings that were inside the bread shell. "I think your transmutation needs some work."

she sighed. "I told you I've never done it before, jerk!"

After two long days of bickering, the two finally made it to Rebitan. Along the way, Alicia had perfected transmuting grass to bread, and the two made enough for a couple nights' stay in the town's inn. It was late by the time they got to their rooms, and the two nearly passed out before they reached their beds.

Their search started the next day. They went to the mayor of the town, hoping he would know the whereabouts of their target. The mayor was a portly man, with grey hair and a thin beard. "Well," he said, "can you describe the person?"

Anthony nodded. "Alright, let's see. It could be a boy or a girl, with blonde or black hair, blue eyes, single parent, a woman, who may or may not be dead. And maybe an alchemist or someone who carries a gun."

The mayor nodded immediately. "I think I know who you're looking for then."

Anthony leaned in happily. "You do? Who?"

The mayor shook his head. "Half the population of Amestris, you don't have a description you have a collection of random facts."

Anthony sighed and started walking away, but Alicia walked forward, looking serious. "This person, their mother too, they would be distant, probably live near the outskirts of your town or somewhere that people wouldn't bother them. They would be distant from others, coming into town for necessities, not trusting anyone. The woman would have been pregnant when she arrived, and had the child here, and if the parent is dead, you probably haven't seen them in town for a while."

the mayor looked at her, surprised at her statement and nodded. "There is someone like that here, his name is Trevor Hughes."

She sighed and shook her head. "No, we're looking for someone named Hawkeye or Musta-"

Anthony pushed her out of the way before she could finish, his turn to look serious. "Trevor Hughes, where does he live?"

the mayor nearly jumped in his seat as Anthony approached him. "He...he lives on the west side of town, near the graveyard, his mother, Gracia Hughes, died recently and he hasn't left the house since then, some have seen him stare out the window."

Anthony nodded and set some money down for him. "thank you, you have been very helpful."

he left with Alicia and sat down on the steps of the town hall. Alicia looked at him. "what was that about? We aren't looking for Hughes, we're looking for Mustang or Hawkeye."

Anthony stared up at the blue sky. "Maes Hughes was a close friend of Roy and my Grandfather, it's entirely possible that Hawkeye took his name as a cover, and Gracia happened to be Hughes' wife. In fact, I'm sure that's the case, Trevor is definitely Mustang's son."

she smiled and stood up. "Well let's get going then, the sooner we get Trevor the better, right?"

Anthony nodded and stood up, and the two began walking. They should have payed more attention to their surroundings, however, because a local con man had overheard their entire conversation.

As the two walked toward the graveyard, Anthony got run down by a man, running with a sack of apples, a pair of military soldiers on his tail. They picked up the man, as he begged and pleaded, down the street. Anthony got up and brushed himself off. "What was that about?"

Alicia sighed. "Ever since Fuhrer King Simon went into power he's been cracking down on crime, giving even the pettiest crime trial. His taxes make it worse, to the point where theft becomes the only option for some."

Anthony glared at the backs of the soldiers. "Let's go, we have an ex-prince to recruit."

Anthony continued walking, saying nothing as they approached the graveyard. It wasn't hard to spot the shack over the gravestones. The two walked up to the door and Anthony knocked. "Trevor, Trevor Mustang, we need to talk to you."

there was a short silence and Anthony knocked again. "Trevor? Are you in the-"

he didn't have a chance to finish before the door was kicked open and he was knocked back. Trevor stepped out, wearing a glove with a fire transmutation circle on the back. His eyes pooled with anger. "So you've finally come for me huh? Well you can roast in hell!" he yelled as he snapped, a blue spark flew through the air.

Anthony rolled out of the way as a powerful blue flame exploded behind him. Alicia watched from the side lines as Anthony continued to narrowly cheat death. After overcoming shock and awe she reached into her pocket and tossed a red glove to Anthony. "Anthony! Take it!"

Anthony rolled and grabbed the glove, running as he put it on. The two fighters snapped at the same time, a blue and red spark crossed in midair, creating a mighty explosion as the two were knocked back. While Trevor was down, Alicia quickly tied him to the side of the shack with powerful vines. Anthony ran and pulled the glove from his hand before he could snap again. He struggled against the vines, but to no avail. He gave up and just glared at Anthony, who glared back. "Now, are you going to sit and listen to what we have to say?"

he didn't say anything, continuing to stare. "My name is Anthony Elric, this is Alicia Rivers, we aren't with the military. We're forming a rebel group, and we want you to join so we can change this country."

Trevor scoffed at him. "Yeah right, what can you do? I'll pass on the suicide group."

Anthony grit his teeth. "This isn't suicide, I'm telling you it can be done."

Trevor glared at him. "Elric was it? Related to Edward Elric? I figured you of all people would realize. My father died because he wanted to change this country. He defeated the homunculus pride, or as he was better known, Fuhrer King Bradley. He died, accused of treason for it. What makes you think that this will be any different? All you will do is kill someone who the people see as a hero, as a leader. You're as foolish as your predecessor."

Anthony kicked him in the stomach, his anger at a boiling point. He took Trevor by the collar of his shirt. "Don't talk about my Grandpa Ed, he did great things for this country, all while trying to help him and his brother! Your father did the same, show some pride! Show some compassion! We will change this country!"

Trevor glared back, his short fuse burnt out aswell. "Well you can do it without me then!"

Anthony glared and turned away. "We're going Alicia, untie him and let's go."

Anthony tossed Trevor's glove to the ground and began walking away, Alicia watched his back for a moment before freeing Trevor and leaving with him. "Anthony, he was upset, I'm sure he didn't mean any of that."

Anthony continued to walk. "Forget about it, he's a lost cause."

the two comrades lay asleep in their inn room, when some noise coming from outside awoke them. Anthony looked out the window and saw a group of at least ten soldiers marching down the street, being led by a man in a suit. "He's this way," the man said, "Trevor Mustang is this way, hurry so I can get my reward."

Anthony gritted his teeth and shut the window. He looked at Alicia, both with concerned faces. "Get the Fullmetal gear together, and hurry."

the two geared up and climbed out the window, jumping rooftops as they kept their sights on the soldiers. They stopped at the last house near the graveyard and stood watch. Two soldiers went in, dragging Trevor out and holding him down to his knees. The man was overexcited. "It's him, it's Trevor Mustang, he's been masquerading as Hughes."

the man jumped for joy, there was a large reward for the son of Mustang. The lead soldier nodded to one of his subordinates, who stabbed the man through the chest. He gasped and fell to the ground. "Wh-what about my reward?"

the captain looked at him and then back at Trevor. "our orders are clear, once Mustang is in custody, kill the one who found him."

Alicia watched in shock as the man died there on the grass. "Anthony, we have to do something."

Anthony said nothing, still staring. The captain put a sword to Trevor's throat. "Trevor Mustang," he began, "For your family's crimes against the state you are sentenced to death."

Anthony still just sat there. Alicia's arms were shaking. "Anthony, please we need to help."

he still said nothing. The captain prepared to slit his throat. "Prepare to die."

Alicia screamed. "Anthony!"

Anthony had his palm to the rooftop, as he transmuted down across the ground and a spike broke the captain's sword, another spike driving through his chest. Everyone's eyes followed the blue light to it's source and saw the two on the rooftop, who jumped down and landed. The soldiers drew their swords, ready to fight if need be. One of them spoke up. "Just who the hell are you two?"

Anthony clapped his hands and pressed his glove to his armored hand, transmuting a blade. "The Fullmetal Brigade, the true alchemists of the people."

Alicia put on her gloves. A soldier ran forward to stab Anthony, he blocked and drove the blade through the man's stomach. "I am the leader, the Cast Iron Alchemist. Release Trevor Mustang now, I'd hate to have to kill you."

A soldier Gritted his teeth. "come on, there's six of us and only two of them. Get them!"

the two holding Trevor stood still as the other six drew their swords to fight. Anthony cleared the blood from his blade and began blocking and parrying. Alicia transmuted a whip covered in thorns from a nearby bouquet of roses. She pulled the weapons from the soldiers, breaking them with the grey glove on her other hand. They made quick work of all six guards, the graveyard riddled with corpses. Anthony transmuted the blade back into his arm. "Rest in peace."

the two holding Trevor let go and began to run. Anthony stopped one of them by the collar of his shirt. "Send a message to your subordinates, the Fullmetal Brigade is on the move."

he nodded and ran, happy to have his life spared. Trevor stood up and stretched his arms, sore from being held down. Anthony removed his mask and the two stared at each other for a while. Anthony finally spoke up. "I don't expect you to thank me, we're just doing what we're meant to do."

he put his mask back on and the two began walking away. Trevor watched as the two walked. "Hey" he yelled to them.

The two turned around and he smiled. "Where can I get one of those cool masks?"

Anthony smiled back. "I don't know, you kind of have to be part of an exclusive club."

The next morning, the town was bustling. Eight soldiers and a con man had been found dead, lying side by side in the graveyard. The captain had a piece of paper on his chest. On the front was a snake wrapped around a cross, and the words "Fullmetal Brigade" and on the back it said "True alchemists for the people"

Trevor had his backpack filled, and joined Anthony and Alicia at the front gate. The three started walking down the dirt path. Trevor smirked. "You two had better not get me killed."

Anthony smiled. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure no one will be able to put out the Blue Flame Alchemist."

Trevor put a hand on Anthony's shoulder. "Blue Flame, huh? I accept, just be careful you don't get burned."

Anthony nodded back to him, smirking. "I'll be sure to be careful. Now let's go, we have work to do."


	3. Chapter 3

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 3: Weapons Under Fire

a young man sat in his chair, sipping tea as he thought. His blonde hair was swept out of his face as he stared down at the report on his desk. A soldier had recently returned from a supposed capture of Roy Mustang's child. Normally he would shrug it off as he did the other forty that came in every day, but this one was unique. The soldier couldn't give an accurate description of the suspected Mustang, but was able to explain clearly the appearances of two renegade alchemists who had interfered. One was said to wear a black metal arm, and could transmute by merely clapping his hands. The other didn't even clap before she transmuted a weapon from the nearby flowers. They had called themselves the Fullmetal Brigade, an apparent rebel force. He adjusted the glasses over his red eyes as he set his tea cup down. 'clearly,' he thought, 'they're just a bunch of wannabe heroes. But worth looking into, nonetheless.'

Once again the group was hitch hiking. They sat down amongst the cargo of fruits and vegetables. Trevor took an apple from one of the crates, but Alicia took it and put it back, glaring. "We're not thieves Trevor, wait until we get to the next town and we'll get something to eat."

Trevor glared back and crossed his arms. "With what money? In case you forgot we're broke. It's not like we're hitch hiking for fun."

the two stared angrily at each other for sometime before Alicia scoffed and walked to sit down. "fine then, take as many apples as you want."

Trevor smirked and took a victorious bite of the apple. Anthony was reading his book, "A History of Famous and Infamous Alchemists," reading about Alex L. Armstrong. "It's hard to believe that with so many benevolent alchemists that the country turned out the way it did."

Alicia nodded and stared at her lap. "Fuhrer King Simon pursued multiple goals in the name of justice, but some theorize that it was a conspiracy to convince the people that it's better with him in power."

Anthony put his book down and yawned. "What does this Fuhrer Simon guy look like anyway?"

Alicia thought for a second. "Well," she said, taking a history book out of her backpack, "The last known photo of him is this one."

she showed him a picture of a group of people. The caption at the bottom read, "The liberators of Amestris." she pointed to the young man in front with his blonde hair combed back, his blue eyes sparkling with pride. Anthony looked him over for a second. "Geez, how long ago was this picture taken? He looks our age."

Alicia put the book away. "about nineteen years ago, but no one has seen him around since then, some say they have, and that he's still alive, but he spends all his time in his office working."

Anthony nodded and layed back against the wall. "So Fuhrer Simon may not be our target."

the truck came to a sudden stop, and the three quickly jumped ship before the drivers had time to notice them. They began exploring the streets of this new town, bustling with activity. Anthony looked at all the tall brick buildings and smoke pipes. "What is this place?"

Alicia took a map out and started following the path with her eyes. "It looks like we're in Melbrooke, a town with a weapon manufacturer for the military."

Anthony smiled and started climbing a fire escape. "Seriously? Well let's see if we can't find it."

Alicia and Trevor followed behind him, staring out at the city from the top of the building. Trevor pointed to the largest building, surrounded by a fence and barbed wire. "That must be it."

Anthony nodded. "It's a big building, if we take it out it could dramatically increase our chances of taking down the government. Alright, let's find the inn and plan our next move."

Alicia shook her head. "Anthony this is a military town, not only will there be guards all over the place but the only people that are supposed to live here are the factory workers."

Anthony sighed. "Damnit, that's going to make it that much harder."

he thought for a second and looked to the nearby mountains. "I bet there are caves in the mountains there."

Trevor looked over and smirked. "I'll do you one better, I'll bet my next meal that there's an old mining cave over there."

Anthony looked down at him. "What makes you say that?"

He pointed to the slopes of the mountain. To the focused eye there were multiple landslide areas around it. "Those landslides might indicate that there was dynamite used inside the mountain, causing enough rumbling to shake loose rocks free."

Anthony nodded. "Then we'll hide out in the mines, great idea Trevor."

the three climbed down and began making their way toward the mountain. Sure enough, there was an old mine that had been closed off with restriction tape. The three made their way in and made some modifications to make sure the mine wouldn't collapse on them. They were able to find a small living quarters not too far in that had been used by the miners. Inside were cots to sleep on and a crate full of stale bread which, with some quick alchemy, were made fresh again. The group ate some bread and began planning. Anthony looked over his grandfather's notebook but found no tips about this particular building. "Well, we're on our own for this one. The first thing we should probably do is sneak inside and get a good look around."

Trevor nodded and layed back on his cot. "Well, since the building is near the mountainside, there's probably an old mine shaft leading into the building, and if not we could always make one with alchemy."

Anthony nodded. "If we had the blueprints then we could find an old way in."

Alicia smiled and sat up. "Well maybe the head builder was also the head miner, in which case there might be old copies of the blueprints hidden somewhere in this mine. All we have to do is find them."

Anthony nodded and stood up. "Then let's start looking, if we don't find them by six o'clock then we'll come back, put on our alchemist gear, and just scale the fence."

the three nodded and started exploring. Trevor lit a lantern for light in the tunnels, and they looked through all the tunnels they could, a string leading the way back. Unfortunately the three found nothing and went back to camp, leaving the string so that they knew where they had been. Anthony and Alicia started putting on their alchemist gear. Trevor held out his hand. "Give me the pocket watch, I'll stay here and keep searching the tunnels we missed, I'll come back at 10 o'clock if I don't find anything."

Anthony nodded and handed him the watch, walking with Alicia to the fence. Some tree roots were transmuted to assure that they could get across safely without getting hurt by the barbs. It wasn't easy getting past the guard patrols, but the two made it to the roof without too much trouble. They hung over the side, staring into a window, and what the saw upset them terribly. Inside the building were row after row of people in poor clothing, chained together, putting guns together in an assembly line while soldiers watched them. Anthony gritted his teeth from behind his mask. "this isn't a weapons manufacturer, it's more like a prison camp."

Alicia sighed, then she noticed something and pointed to a man. "Anthony, that's the guy that bumped into you in Rebitan. And that couple over there were taken from Risembool. These people are all prisoners taken for petty crimes."

Anthony climbed back up onto the roof and helped Alicia up. "We have to get back to Trevor, this building must fall."

Alicia nodded and they quickly returned to the mine. Trevor was there, holding the blueprints he had found. Anthony took off his mask and looked at them. Everything that they covered he recognized from his reconnaissance. Anthony smiled. "this is perfect." he told them.

Trevor leaned against an unfamiliar box. "And that's not all, check out what else I found."

he opened the box, and more than two hundred sticks of dynamite fell out of the box. He pointed to the two behind it. "We've got enough dynamite here to blow up a mountain, but it's old so we'll have to repair them all."

Anthony nodded and drew a circle on the floor. "Let's get started then."

Alicia stopped him. "It's late, let's get some rest first."

Anthony stood up, sighed and nodded, walking to his cot.

Anthony rolled in his bed, his head wrapped in nightmares. Alicia, laying in the cot next to his, sat up and saw him struggling in sleep. She watched him for a moment before shrugging him awake. "Anthony, get up."

Anthony awoke in a surprise, sitting up and breathing heavily. Alicia looked at him worriedly. "Are you alright? You were rolling around and groaning in your sleep."

Anthony wiped some sweat off his head, sighing. "Yeah, I was just having a nightmare. I've been dreaming about my home world, worrying that I might never go back."

Alicia put a consoling arm on his shoulder. "maybe we should try helping you find your way home."

Anthony shook his head. "We need to help Amestris first. This was my grandfather's world, it could have been mine. If I leave while the country is still like this, then I wouldn't be able to live with myself, to face my grandfather in the afterlife."

Alicia nodded. "Alright then, try to get some sleep."

he nodded and layed back down.

Alicia hung over the side of the roof the entire day, taking notes on the schedule they ran by. In the late evening she returned to Anthony and Trevor, who had spent the entire day transmuting the dynamite back into working condition. It was tough, they had to do it one at a time so the light from the transmutation wouldn't alert anyone. They had finished two boxes, and with Alicia's help they finished by the late night. They finished transmuting them into bombs the next day, creating fifteen powerful explosives, strapping them to their backs and carrying them to the factory.

Alicia's research had told them when the guards changes occurred and when lunch was. Anthony and Trevor dove down on the two guards in the main production room, knocking them out. They transmuted the bombs underneath the floor so that they wouldn't be found. They hid a total of eight bombs inside the main room, then hid the rest one each in the other rooms. Alicia was waiting on the roof with a radio they had found in the mine. Trevor took off his mask, Mustang's bangs carved into it. "Damn, how do you guys handle all this work? It's murder."

Alicia took off her own mask and smiled. "You get used to it."

the group heard commotion coming from the yard. They looked over and saw a prisoner tied up and blindfolded against a wall. "Attention prisoners," the guard announced, "This convict has refused to obey our laws, and has therefore been chosen to be made an example of to the rest of you."

Anthony's hand clenched up. The guards raised their guns, ready to fire. He ran and jumped off the roof, diving down and transmuting some rocks to destroy the guns. The guards turned to him and pulled their sidearms. Alicia dove down and pushed him out of the way, her mask back on. She took out a smoke bomb, a side project they worked on, and created a smokescreen. Anthony ran toward the bound prisoner and picked him up, and the four escaped. The guards were in a flurry, they began searching the city for the felons.

The group were back in the mines before the guards had begun their search. Anthony released the prisoner. He looked at the three with worry. "D-did you save me? Who are you people?"

Anthony handed him a map to escape the mines. "Fullmetal Brigade, Alchemists for the people. Get out of here and return to your family."

he looked at the map and nodded, running away. "Thank you very much." was the last thing they heard him say.

Anthony took off his mask when he was out of sight, smiling. Alicia wasn't as happy as she slammed her palm against his head. "Are you a dumbass? We almost got caught Anthony! This was supposed to be a stealth operation, now they're onto us!"

Anthony sat down on his cot, rubbing his head. "I can't watch someone die in front of me if I can help it, I watched my dad flatline in the hospital when I was little."

Alicia sighed and sat down. "they're going to double up guard patrols after this for sure. It's going to be twice as hard to get everyone out of the factory before we blow it up."

Trevor smirked, sitting down too. "A challenge just makes it more fun."

Anthony stared up at the ceiling. "I'll make sure that every prisoner gets out of there alive."

A man was sitting behind the desk in his office. The door across the room read "Warden" backwards, an ornament on his desk read "Head Warden Fang" his black jacket hung snugly on his shoulders. He was leaning back in his chair, his black hair hanging down to the floor. He had a lot to think about after the riot in the prison yard, when a prisoner scheduled for execution was stolen from him. A search had been started, but nothing was found. Clearly these intruders were planning something, but he couldn't figure it out. He stood up and stared out at the city. A smirk passed across his face. "I accept your challenge mysterious rebels, You should know that an animal's deadliest weapon," he cackled softly before finishing, "Is it's fangs."

the group were preparing for the prison break today. Anthony packed an extra pair of gloves in his back pocket as they went over the plan one more time. "Alicia," he began, "Your job is to clear out the factory of all prisoners while I distract the guards. Trevor, you are going to wait in the prison yard. When all the prisoners are evacuated you need to wait exactly five minutes." he handed Trevor his pocket watch. "If I'm not out of the building by then, you need to light it up, no exceptions."

Trevor nodded. "No problem."

Alicia nodded aswell. "Understood."

they all put on their masks and went out. To their surprise it was easy to get inside the compound. Alicia waited on the roof, watching through the window. She waited for Anthony's distraction. Suddenly, a flashbang grenade ignited in the hallway, all the guards ran out of the factory, and Anthony sealed off the room. Alicia hopped in the window and started escorting the prisoners out, breaking through the fence. Anthony ran through the compound, making sure that all the prisoners were cleared out. Some guards were there to stop him. He forced them out of the window with a pillar of concrete. As soon as he was done, he hacked his way past the guards back to the factory part of the building, but was stopped in his tracks. Anthony barely managed to block the sword coming at him with his armored arm as he was kicked back against the wall. Fang was standing there, holding his large sword with both hands. "So we finally meet, mysterious rebel."

Anthony got up, his armor nearly broken in half. "You can call me the Cast Iron Alchemist. And who might you be?"

He licked his lips. "I'm Head Warden Fang, and I believe you have stolen my property."

Anthony growled. "those prisoners are innocent human beings, not objects."

he clapped and transmuted his arm into a blade, dashing at Fang. Fang blocked it with his foot and dug his sword into Anthony's shoulder. Anthony let out a cry of pain and was kicked back. "You are no match for my sword skills Cast Iron Alchemist. You will die here in this building."

Anthony was doing his best to keep track of the time, but he lost his focus. How long had it been? Two minutes? Three? Either way he was running out of time. But he knew that if Fang survived he would go after Alicia and Trevor. It was a difficult decision, but Anthony knew his answer already. He stood up and clapped his hands, sending spikes toward Fang. Fang smirked and sliced straight through the spikes. "Pretty tricks won't work with me alchemist."

Anthony tossed a flashbang into the air, covering his eyes as it lit up the room. Fang let out a screech as his eyes were blinded. Anthony got up, thinking he had time for a counter attack when he narrowly dodged Fang's sword. "You haven't won yet, I can track you by your scent. I'm no ordinary human, alchemist."

Anthony backed away and clapped his hand. "I hope this works!"

he pressed his palm to the ground and transmuted a tall spear from the ground, Edward Elric's Griffin Spear. He did his best to parry and block, not used to fighting with such a weapon, but was successfully able to keep Fang held back.

Trevor stared at the watch, watching every second inch past his vision. Finally, five minutes had passed. Trevor sighed and put the watch in his pocket, looking over at Alicia. "Well? What should we do?"

Alicia paused for a moment and sighed. Even she hated the next words that left her mouth. "Anthony told us what we have to do, light it up."

Trevor nodded and reached into his pocket. With a reluctant snap of his fingers, he lit the first explosive.

Anthony heard the rumbling coming from the other side of the factory, his time was up. As the explosions got closer, Fang realized what was going on, and began to run. Anthony stopped him in his tracks, encasing his feet in solid concrete. Fang struggled, but to no avail, he had dropped his sword attempting to flee. Anthony wasted no time and pressed his palms to the ground, protecting him with a shell of concrete. He heard the rubble come crashing down overtop, hoping the canopy would hold. When it finally stopped he made a tunnel going up and climbed out, looking out at the rubble and flames. Across the room he saw fangs hand broken out through the rubble, but it was limp.

Anthony made his way out, his bleeding shoulder hanging at his side. Alicia and Trevor were overjoyed to see their friend walk out of the building. Anthony transmuted the snake and cross on the front wall, then turned to all the prisoners he had freed. "Prisoners of the Amestrian army, you are free now. We are the members of the Fullmetal Brigade, saving this land from the tyranny of the state."

A man walked forward sluggishly. "Excuse me, it's not much, but please take this for saving me."

the man handed him $10. Anthony nodded and took it. "Thank you."

systematically more people came forward, offering them money. By the time it was over they had nearly $500 in Amestrian currency. The last person, a girl no older than fifteen, came up and offered her money. She noticed Anthony's shoulder and walked forward. "Did Warden Fang do this? Hold on."

she took some gauze from her pocket and wrapped it up, drawing a medical transmutation circle on it. She pressed her palm to Anthony's shoulder and sealed it, adjusting the glasses on her face. "There."

Anthony looked at his shoulder and smiled. "Hey thanks, what's your name?"

the young girl blushed and brushed her brunette hair from her face. "My name is Jennifer Meadows. If it's not too much trouble, could I accompany you three? I want to help the country too in any way I can."

Anthony looked at her and nodded. "Alright, from now on you're in the brigade. Welcome, Prison Medic Alchemist."

she blushed agan at the name and nodded back. "Thank you very much."

The next day the group packed up their equipment, and had Jennifer fitted for her own white brigade jacket. She denied a mask, having no need to join them on their missions, only to heal their wounds after. The prisoners waved goodbye, cheering them out to the horizon. The four continued forward to their next destination, Central.


	4. Chapter 4

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 4: A meeting with the Fuhrer

Staring over the latest report of the group calling themselves the "Fullmetal Brigade," the man read over the report of the destruction of the central weapons factory, including the unfortunate death of Head Warden Fang. Following their activity on a map, he was easily able to conclude that central was their next target. He yawned, rubbing the sleep from his red eyes. "Well, if they're on their way here, I should probably get some sleep." he stood up and picked up his sword, snapping it onto his belt. "I'm no good tired."

Anthony layed back in the cushioned seat of the train's private cabin, the other three enjoying a warm pie they purchased from a bakery. Jennifer hungrily reached for a second piece, crumbs from the crust on her lips. "yum, it's been a while since I enjoyed food this good."

Alicia smiled and finished her second piece. "This is almost as tasty as Grandma Winry's apple pie."

Trevor was already on his third piece. "Man, I wish mom could have cooked like this."

Anthony smiled at the three friends he had made. Once the meal was finished, Anthony pulled out a blueprint of Central HQ, courtesy of General Feury. The four looked over it for weak points in construction or some hidden path in. Finding none, they sighed. Anthony layed back again, feeling hopeless. "The place is an impenetrable fortress, breaking in doesn't seem to be a possibility. We'll have to find a way to sneak in undetected."

Alicia nodded. "If only we were in the army like the fullmetal alchemist was. Then we could just stroll in."

Anthony stared at his pocket watch, running his thumb over the bumps and grooves. 'what would you do?' he thought to himself. He shut his eyes and thought. It hit him like a brick. He stood up, slamming his hands down on the table. "The sewers. There's no way they would patrol there."

Trevor nodded. "True, but there are no human sized sewage drains inside."

Anthony pointed to a wall on the blueprint that looked suspiciously out of place. "Well any logical being would have created an emergency escape in the basement of the building, seeing as there are no other free escape routes above ground. And assuming there is an escape route in the basement, it's more than likely that it converges with the sewer lines somewhere. Since this wall was blocked off one can assume that the entrance is hidden and the 'liberators' saw no need to keep the basement open. So they sealed it off."

The three of them just stared blankly at Anthony's long explanation. Jennifer smiled and adjusted her glasses. "Wow Anthony, that's amazing. How did you figure out all that." Anthony smiled back, blushing a bit embarrassingly. "I um...I was going for a construction scholarship back in my world. I guess I was just born to create, like my grandfather."

Trevor nodded. "So we'll get a hotel room and start planning our attack. Hard to believe it all came together so quickly."

Anthony nodded, yawning. "Three weeks. When I came here I knew nothing of this land, But thanks to you guys I feel like I've lived here all my life."

Alicia smiled and brushed the hair out of her face. "Your grandpa's stories layed the foundation, we just build from what he layed down."

Anthony nodded as the train came to a halt in Central. The four got out and stretched their legs, looking around at the scenery. Looking at the tall buildings and bustling streets, he felt as though he was home, a warmth wrapped around him he hadn't felt since Risembool. The four checked into a hotel and started unpacking their things. Anthony put on a change of clothes and walked to the door. "I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back by dinner." He left without another word.

Following the descriptions in the note book, Anthony stopped at the now dilapidated laboratory 5. Ed had been very detailed about his experience here, about the brothers he met, the slicer brothers forced into armor. He walked through the gate, his hands in his pockets, staring at the rubble, he shut his eyes to pay his respects. This was the first of many destinations he felt he needed to see.

The next on his list was the grave of an old friend. "Brigadier General Maes Hughes, killed in the line of duty." Anthony read it to himself many times. An entire two pages in the note book was dedicated to this man, whom Ed blamed himself for the death of. Standing here, in front of the grave, he could feel the air of nostalgia, even though he was never there. A woman in black approached him. "Excuse me."

Anthony gasped, leaving his mind and returning to reality. "Oh, sorry, i was deep in thought."

he stepped out of the way to let the blonde woman step forward, she set a bouquet of flowers on the grave. "You seem too young to have known him."

Anthony nodded, looking away. "He was an old friend of my grandfather."

She nodded, smiling. "he was very friendly during his time. It seemed like all he knew was a smile."

Anthony nodded. "So how do you know him?"

She smiled at him, brushing her hair away. "I'm his daughter, my name is Elicia."

Anthony looked surprised, he never imagined the young girl he read about would look so lovely. A smile went across his face. "I see, I've heard a bit about you miss Elicia."

she giggled. "Seems like everyone has. When he was alive my father would always flaunt pictures of me to everyone he knew, like I was the greatest thing in the world."

Anthony put his hands in his pockets. "So I've heard, it's good to see that you're in good spirits."

She blushed and nodded, smiling. "You remind me of someone I used to know. You even look a little like him."

Anthony nodded. "And who would that be?" he asked, though he was sure he knew the answer. "The Fullmetal Alchemist. I remember when he would come over to see me and my father, in fact my mother told me that he helped deliver me. I'm happy to know my father had such kindhearted friends."

Anthony let out a chuckle and scratched his chin. "He was an amazing person, to be a state alchemist at such a young age."

A man called to Elicia from across the graveyard, she waved at him and blew him a kiss. "I have to go, it was nice talking to you."

Anthony nodded and smiled. "Hopefully our paths will cross again."

She nodded in response and ran up to the man, kissing him softly before the two left the graveyard. Anthony smiled and moved on, feeling as though he had gained the closure Ed so desperately wanted to achieve.

One final destination was on his list, Anthony made his way to an alleyway. The alleyway still had the blood stain of an innocent chimera. Anthony walked up to it and pressed his hand to the dried blood stain. "Nina." he said silently.

He felt closer to his grandfather's past here than anywhere else he had been. "You don't know me, but you know my grandfather, 'little brother.'"

he smiled and ran his hand across the wall. "My mother, Nina Elric, was named after you. I think she'd be honored to bear the name of such an honest, caring little girl. I wish you could be here, that I could talk to you."

Anthony sighed and stared at his hand, he clenched it into a tight fist. "For the sake of you, for the sake of Hughes, for the sake of the slicer brothers. Izumi Curtis, Roy Mustang, Winry Rockbell, Russel and Fletcher, Rose. For the sake of all those who stood by my grandfather, and for the sake of the Fullmetal Alchemist's reputation, I vow to turn this country to the land my grandfather fought for it to become."

Anthony returned to the hotel room, more determined than ever.

Alicia walked down the sidewalks of the sewers, plugging her nose as she groaned, Trevor following her. "Why did I get stuck with sewer duty?"

Trevor sighed. "We drew the short straws, let's just get this over with already. According to Anthony's pseudo schematic of the sewers we should be right underneath Central HQ. There should be a door of some sort close by."

Alicia sighed and dragged her feet along. "The sooner we find it the better. Lucky Anthony taking the above ground job with Jennifer."

Trevor growled and turned to her. "Is whining and complaining all you're good at?"

Alicia glared back. "Well walking through the smelly sewer isn't my idea of a fun time alright?"

Trevor growled more and turned his back, looking around for anything that might resemble a door. As he walked, he found it. It's design resembled a bank vault door, and the edges were sealed with alchemy to hide it's identity. Trevor drew a quick circle and opened the door. Using the light of the torch he looked around the room on the other side. This was clearly the old basement of Central HQ. The walls were lined with boxes and crates, each labelled and sorted. Trevor smiled and looked around the room. "Jackpot."

Alicia sighed and smiled. "good, now let's get back above ground and let the other two know."

Trevor started exploring the room. "Hold on a second, there might be stuff down here we can use."

Alicia sighed and sat down, resting her feet. "May as well take your time then."

Anthony and Jennifer were able to climb onto the wall of Central HQ from a nearby tree. Though she requested no mask, Anthony made her one with a medical plus carved into it. He felt safer in numbers when it came to brigade activities. Staring out at the grounds, it was clear that they were serious about security. Guards were posted everywhere, each carrying at least three visible weapons. "Geez, for a Fuhrer who hasn't shown himself for more than 18 years he's really serious about security."

Jennifer nodded, staring out. "We could create some sort of distraction with smokescreen or flashbangs."

Anthony nodded. "right now let's just take notes about the locations of the guards and keep an eye out. We need to know the maximum and minimum numbers at any given time, and also how frequently the guards switch out. Judging just from first glances, we may end up in a fight for our lives. You'd better get your gauze ready Jen."

she nodded, not liking the thought of her new allies bloodied. "I promise you'll all stay alive, even if my hand goes numb from drawing."

Anthony nodded. "I know you will."

Jennifer blushed a bit behind her mask. She wasn't used to so much trust. After a few hours of recon the two returned to the hotel room and met up with Trevor and Alicia. If only they were aware that the whole time they were being watched by a pair of red eyes across the courtyard.

Trevor and Alicia were waiting for them in the hotel room. Anthony took off his mask. "Any luck?"

Trevor nodded, a proud and victorious smile on his face. "Hell yeah, we found the room, and we even brought back gifts."

Trevor opened his backpack, full of medical equipment. Alicia did the same, hers was full of fireworks. Anthony smiled, it was as if they had read his mind. He took out the blueprints and started marking off guard patrols. "the guards patrol in groups of three, most had two to three lethal arms visible, since some had two and others had three we need to assume for our own safety that they have any number of concealed weapons. If we get in a bout with anyone during the mission, it's kill or be killed. Our target is here..."

he drew multiple circles around the large office building they were across from. "This is where Fuhrer Simon's living quarters are. He has no home address, no records since he became Fuhrer. We can only assume he spends all of his time in this building. Once there we need to find out just what's become of Fuhrer Simon, if he's even alive. From there we'll see if we can negotiate with him, convince him our point of view. If he turns hostile, we'll have to take him out."

the four nodded along, taking in every word. Alicia crossed her arms. "What's the plan Anthony?"

he pointed to the fireworks. "We'll enter through the basement and go separate ways. Trevor will take the fireworks and go to the side opposite the target, setting them off. This will be ample distraction for me and Alicia to break in and meet up with the target. Whatever goes down we leave together, and meet up back in the basement. If we can't make it to the basement, our secondary rendezvous will be the graveyard. There will be a twenty minute wait limit before we return to the hotel. Jennifer will treat our wounds and we'll work from there as needed. Hopefully we'll be able to change the country tonight."

the three nodded, understanding their roles inside and out. Anthony put his hand forward, and they all put their hands together on top of his. With a roar of pride they spoke in chorus, "Alchemists for the people."

Feeling fully rested, the young man got up, styling his blonde hair as he always had, sweeping it to either side out of his eyes. He drew his swords from their sheaths, slicing back and forth across his practice dummies. Every elegant strike was precise and planned, like a ballet of steel gliding through the air. His speed and skill were the result of years of practice and enhancement. Seeing his abilities had not diminished with a lack of training partners, he sheathed his swords once again, prepared for the foe he was destined to cross paths with. He stared out the window of his room, down at the courtyard. "Well, Fullmetal Brigade," he spoke to himself, "I hope you can give me a challenge, it's been so long since I had one."

Tonight was the night, Everyone was preparing. Jennifer sorted out the medical supplies into a medical kit for quick access. She had also been given a pair of white medical alchemy gloves from Alicia, making it easier to do her medical alchemy. Trevor packed the fireworks tight in his backpack, each loaded with a different time fuse so he could snap once and they would systematically go off, giving him quick escape to join the others. Alicia loaded smokescreens and flashbangs into her jacket, along with two pairs of gloves. She put on a special pair of botanic alchemy gloves she had made, plant seeds were hemmed into the stitching. It was uncomfortable, but it was functional. Anthony's jacket was packed tight with equipment. Besides the typical smokescreens and flashbangs, he also had a combination smoke and flash grenade, something he had prepared specifically for this night. After his bout with Fang he decided that an explosive eliminating all three tracking senses was the best way to go. He put his cast iron armor over his right arm, staring as the black metal glistened in the light. The four nodded to each other and put on their masks, ready for this mission. With their arsenals complete, they headed out, leaving Jennifer to wait to fulfil her duty.

They snuck into the sewers under cover of night in the park, going top speed across the walkways to the door. It was no effort breaking into the basement, but they knew that would be the easy part. Trevor had split up with them already to set up the fireworks. Using some portable radios they kept in communication. Anthony and Alicia waited in the basement for Trevor to give them the signal. He waited until the guard patrol passed, and he climbed the tree to get up onto the wall. He took the fireworks out, lighting them all. He got back to the base of the tree just as the first one went off and ran for the nearby sewer grate. He turned on his radio. "They're all lit up, get moving, I'll rendezvous with you guys in the basement."

Anthony answered as he opened the former basement door with alchemy, closing it as the two left. "Copy, guard the escape route, we can't afford to lose it."

it was easy making it through the halls as the guards haphazardly ran to inspect the commotion. There was something they hadn't counted on though. It appears the Fuhrer was a bit paranoid. He had eight guards posted outside the door to his building, ordered to seal the doors with alchemy at the first sign of danger. They had to get in before they sealed the doors. Thinking quickly they devised a plan. Alicia tossed a flashbang down the hallway to draw the guards' attention. Six of them went to inspect the situation, leaving only two to take out. Anthony transmuted his wrist sword and ran out. Alicia transmuted a sword of rose thorns from the seeds in her gloves. With the six down the hall they posed little threat, they focused their efforts on the two in the way. Anthony ran headlong at one and sliced the man's hand before he could draw his gun, then kicked him against the wall. Alicia came in close and bound his arms with vines. They didn't count on two being inside, shutting the doors from that end. They saw the doors closing and the six guards coming closer. Alicia turned to him. "Cast Iron, go now!"

Anthony stood next to her, ready to fight. "I'm not going to leave an ally behind."

Alicia nodded. "I know."

she quickly tripped him with a vine, catching him and pushing him through the door. "Ali-...Botanic!"

she watched as the door closed. "No matter what."

the doors shut and were sealed. Alicia prepared herself for a hard fight. Anthony stood up, he stabbed both guards through the stomach to incapacitate them and began running up the stairs. He counted the steps as he ran, keeping the building's architecture in his mind. He calculated that the Fuhrer's chamber was one more room up.

He opened the door to the floor below it, and was surprised at what was inside. Carved into the pillars were statues of every Fuhrer of Amestris, along with a portrait next to it. Roy's statue was turned to rubble, his painting ripped apart. He stopped at the middle of the room. Something didn't feel right. Since the ground floor he hadn't encountered a single guard. It seemed strange, even with the door sealed by alchemy. He clapped his hands and transmuted his wrist sword again. He heard clapping from the end of the hall, putting his guard up. A man walked forward, two swords strapped to his waist. "So the tales are true, the leader of this little musketeer show, the 'Cast Iron Alchemist' can perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. Or can he?"

Anthony said nothing, holding a combat stance, he tried to keep a calm bravado, but as the man stepped into the light he stepped back. This man who stepped forward, this unknown adversary, was a perfect resemblance of the picture he had seen of Fuhrer King Simon, aside from his blood red eyes. "Just...Just who the hell are you?"

The man looked at him and sighed. "Have you really not heard of me? I supposed that means you've never heard the phrase 'know one's enemy' either. I am President Fuhrer King Simon Watson."

Anthony shook his head. "That's impossible, Fuhrer King Simon would be in his thirties by now."

Simon nodded slowly, counting on his fingers. "In a month I think it'll be 38, though with my unaging body, it's hard to keep track."

Anthony couldn't believe his ears. To think that this young man, who looks no older than himself, could be the leader of the rebellion group that became Fuhrer. "H-How? Are you a homonculus or something? Or are you like Dante?"

he couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Anthony guessed at his origin. "I assure you I'm no homonculus, I have no need for that sort of immortality, though my body has homonculus qualities. As for Dante, no aswell. Though philosopher's stones are the root of it. Only a fool would make their core a philosopher's stone. When you make a stone your core, It feeds off you just as much as you feed off it." Simon explained as he raised his hand and layed it on his thin stomach. "If you ingest them, however, your body will convert it into power, into nutrients. My muscles, my blood, everything. Philosopher's stones are pumping through my veins."

Anthony was panicking, he never expected to see something like this. Simon put a hand over his eye. "There are some minor side effects, but nothing I can't live with."

Anthony shivered and shuddered. "You are...a monster!"

Simon cackled, staring at him with his bloody eyes. "Am I really that different than your precious Fullmetal Alchemist? His life goal was to gain this stone, just so he could do the same thing that I'm doing now."

his last statement drove Anthony over the edge. He ran straight at his enemy, his anger driving his wrist sword. "He is nothing like you!"

Simon was calm as he kicked Anthony's arm up and drew his sword, driving it into his stomach in one fluid motion. Anthony gasped in pain as the sword broke through his skin. Simon took Anthony's armored hand and looked at the transmutation circle on the palm. "As I thought, you are nothing but smoke and mirrors. Unfortunate, I thought I had a challenge."

Anthony struggled against his foe, weakened from the last blow. "I will...kill...you..."

Simon chucked and tossed anthony against the wall, pulling the sword from his waist and driving both through Anthony's arm, straight through the tough armor, one in the palm and one closer to the shoulder. Anthony let out a cry of pain. Simon cackled and licked his lips. "How do you plan to beat me Cast Iron Alchemist? Tell me!"

he pulled the sword from Anthony's upper arm and drove it deep into the shoulder. "You can't kill me, no one can kill me!"

Anthony put his hand to the wall behind him, driving a spike through Simon's neck. Simon looked at him with surprise and went limp. Anthony smiled, thinking he'd won. But then he heard a cackle as Simon pulled off the spike, red light of alchemic reaction around his neck as the wound sealed. "You don't listen very well do you?"

He pulled the sword from Anthony's shoulder again, smiling a demonic smile as he targeted Anthony's neck. "I cannot die!"

Just before the sword collided, Simon was knocked back by a pillar of wood, his sword flew through the air and embedded itself in Fuhrer Bradley's statue. Alicia ran over to Anthony and pulled the sword out of his palm. He fell weakly to the ground, losing blood. Alicia picked him up. "Stay with me, You're going to be okay."

Simon stood up, coughing up some blood as he picked up his sword. "How annoying, an ally hiding in the shadows."

Alicia looked over and couldn't believe her eyes as she had Anthony on her back. "I-it can't be..."

Anthony pulled two flash smokes from his jacket and tossed them, whispering to his savior. "Alicia...close your eyes and run..." The grenades went off, sending Simon senseless. Without thinking, Alicia began running with her eyes closed, Anthony guiding her left and right with tugs on her jacket. He hung in for a long time, but finally passed out when they got to the ground floor. "Anthony...Anthony hold on, it's only a little further!"

that was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious.

Anthony's palm landed flat on the circle, and it began to glow. He stood up, both palms on the circle, an eye opened up beneath him. Anthony couldn't believe his eyes as, suddenly, tendril arms grew from the eye and grabbed him. He resisted as best he could, but the arms pulled him in beneath the eye. Anthony struggled as best as he could, but he passed out. He regained consciousness momentarily, and saw the eye in front of him. "you..." it said, "you have Amestrian blood. Could you be from Amestris?"

Anthony was too weak to reply. "I can see inside your mind's eye. You seek your grandfather don't you?"

Anthony nodded slowly. "I can bring you to him. But it comes at a cost."

Anthony was reminded of the story of the alchemist who tried to bring his mother to life, and shook his head. The eye stared at him. "so then, you wish to travel across the truth? Being Amestrian, I cannot stop you."

the tendrils began breaking apart Anthony's body, he screamed and struggled, and eventually passed out again.

Anthony woke up slowly, staring at the ceiling of the hotel room. He turned his head and saw Jennifer, doing vital checks. She looked at him and smiled. "thank goodness, we were all worried about you Anthony."

Anthony smiled and began to sit up, but it was painful to move. Jennifer helped him sit up. "you have to be careful, medical alchemy can seal your wounds and fix your muscles, but only to an extent. You still need to rest and give yourself time to heal. You lost a lot of blood, after all."

Anthony nodded and looked around the room. Trevor was sitting on his bed, a gunshot would in his shoulder. "What happened?"

Trevor looked over. "got caught off guard helping Alicia carry you out. I'm fine."

he took another look around. "where is Alicia?"

Jennifer put away her medical supplies. "she snuck back into the base to get painkillers for you and Trevor. She was able to get out unscathed by some miracle."

Anthony nodded and the group waited for her to return. When she returned she forced Anthony to take some of the painkillers and he looked around the room. "now that everyone's here, there's some information I need to relay to you."

they all sat down, paying attention. He told them about what he had learned from Simon, and also about his dream from his past experiences. After he told them they all looked sick to their stomachs. Alicia could barely take it in. "So all those arrests, cracking down on crime and hiding away...he must be using prisoners to create philosopher's stones and then ingesting them to give himself eternal life...that's...that's horrible."

Trevor clenched his fists tight. "My father died for this? So this jackass could use this country for his own selfish needs?"

Jennifer couldn't believe it, how close she came to death. "Was that...my fate also...? the fate of everyone in that weapons factory...?"

Anthony stood up sluggishly, feeling the painkillers start to kick in. He walked over to the wall, using it as a substitute chalkboard. "right, so here's the plan." Anthony said, writing as he spoke. "Priority one: destroy all the headquarters belonging to the Amestrian army. Priority two: obtain a philosopher's stone that has already been created. Priority three: use the stone to find a way to break down the elements of a philosopher's stone and destroy it's power."

Alicia walked forward and started writing. "Priority four: find a way to get you home Anthony."

Anthony looked at her and nodded. "We'll deal with that after we've taken care of this country."

the four nodded and began planning, looking over a map of Amestris. Anthony crossed out the entire eastern side of the country. "General Feury didn't mention anything about the production of philosopher's stones under his rule, we don't have to worry about opposition from the east. That just leaves the south, west, and north."

The three nodded and Alicia smiled at him. "So what's the plan fearless leader?"

Anthony smiled back and pointed to north headquarters. "North HQ. Then we'll rotate counterclockwise across the country. Everywhere we go we'll leave our mark, build an army, let Simon know we're not to be messed with. By the time we return to Central, we should have more rebel factions than the army has soldiers."

the four put their hands together over the map and looked around at each other. With one final roaring blast they said aloud, "Alchemists for the people!"


	5. Chapter 5

Cast Iron Alchemist

chapter 5 : the components of an alchemist's heart

Alicia walked through the dark forest by herself, lost. All the trees looked the same, there was no visible path. When she looked forward in the distance she saw a figure. Anthony was standing there in his red jacket, he smiled at her and held out his hand. She smiled back, waved, and began running toward him. She stood in front of him, laying her hand on top of his. Suddenly, his face changed to pain, and a sword dug it's way through his abdomen. She backed away in horror as she saw Fuhrer King Simon standing behind him, an evil smile across his face.

Alicia woke up with a gasp as she looked around. She was laying against her seat on the train. Across from her in the booth was Anthony, sleeping soundly. His bandaged hand was visible. Alicia curled up a bit, worrying about him. He had nearly died and yet still they were trying to save this country. It was clear from the start it wouldn't be easy, but she never considered someone might die. Everything was happening so quickly, it had only been about two months. She stared out the window of the booth at the passing scenery. Their destination was Risembool. Anthony didn't want to thin out his armor and risk it being too fragile to fight with, so they were going to Winry for a tune up.

Fuhrer King Simon sat in his office, rubbing his eyes, still sore from the flash bomb. He stared out at the courtyard, contemplating the recent events. The mysterious alchemist with the fake cast iron arm, the green alchemist that came to rescue him, and the reports from the guards of the alchemist that could start fires with the snap of his fingers. A man walked in, carrying a record book. "You wanted to see me Fuhrer King?"

Simon stood up and turned around, crossing his arms behind his back. "I need you to do some facts checking for me."

The sun shone bright in the skies over Risembool as the four friends walked out of the train. Anthony stretched his legs. "Man, it's good to get out of that crowded booth."

Trevor nodded, stretching aswell. "Yeah man, no room in there."

Alicia giggled as she walked by with Jennifer. "Alright you two, let's get going, we're on a tight schedule."

the four walked through the town, breathing in the fresh country air. Up the ridge was Winry's house, kindly rebuilt by the townspeople. Anthony knocked softly on the door. Winry answered, wearing her green overalls and bandanna, an automail arm on her workbench. She smiled as she looked and saw Anthony and Alicia. "Well, long time no see you two, looks like you've brought some friends with you too. Come in, come in."

she walked over to her workbench again, sitting down on her stool. "So what brings you two back this way?"

Anthony smiled and set his backpack down. "A little maintenance work."

he held up his armor, covered in scratches and sword marks. The smile left Winry's face and was replaced with an angry frown. She gripped the screwdriver in her hand tightly. "You Elrics...Is your one goal in life to destroy my gifts?"

she dropped the screwdriver and reached for her wrench. Thinking quickly, Anthony ducked. It was a bad call, however, as the wrench knocked his shin and forced him face first to the ground. He got up slowly and rubbed his sore shin. "ow..."

she got up and walked over, taking the arm from him and examining the damage. "Well you're out of luck, I have to order the cast iron from a special provider, it won't be in for two or three days."

Anthony nodded and handed her the group's money pouch. "Here, use this to pay for it."

She looked at it and shook her head. "I don't need your money."

He layed it in her hand and closed her hand around it. "It's my fault it broke, it's my responsibility to pay for repairs."

She looked down at the money, then back up and him, looking at the seriousness in his eyes, and finally nodded. "Alright, I'll prepare some beds for you."

the four nodded and brought their backpacks up to the two empty rooms that Anthony and Alicia had once occupied, two fresh beds waiting in each room. Trevor looked around at it and then at the two beds. "Looks like she was expecting us."

Anthony nodded. "She knew we were going to be going out to build up the brigade, it makes sense she'd prepare extra beds if we ever came back."

Trevor nodded and layed back. The four had a long day and began preparing for bed.

Alicia woke up in the middle of the night from another nightmare about Anthony. She sat up and got out of bed, walking downstairs to get a drink. Winry was sitting there with the automail arm from earlier, working on it's inner mechanics. She stopped and turned when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Oh, hi Alicia, couldn't sleep?"

She nodded and walked over to the kitchen for a glass of water. "Nightmares."

Winry set her tools down and sat down next to her. "Really? You haven't had a nightmare for years."

she shook her head and sipped some water. "It wasn't about my parents Miss Winry. It was...Anthony..." she said, blushing a bit.

Winry nodded and leaned back. "Why don't you tell me about it."

She took a deep breath and explained about the events in Central and the nightmares of Anthony and her. "I just don't know what to do Grandma Winry, it worries me that he takes so many risks."

Winry took a deep sigh and nodded. "Elric men have that effect on girls." she told her with a small giggle. "Listen, Anthony is like his grandfather, no matter what anyone says he's going to take those risks. All you can do is make the risks less risky. I helped Ed in that way with my automail, you need to use your own methods to make sure Anthony doesn't lose his life doing something reckless."

she nodded slowly and finished her water. "thanks, I think I'll be able to sleep easier now."

she put the glass away in the kitchen and went back up to bed, trying to get some rest.

Anthony slept in late the next day, walking downstairs. Jennifer was sitting on the couch, reading a healthcare book. He walked over and yawned. "Where is everybody?"

Jennifer flipped the page, adjusting her glasses. "Miss Winry is on a service call, and Alicia and Trevor went out to the market."

Anthony nodded and walked to the kitchen to make a sandwich, coming back out and eating. He leaned over and looked at the book she was reading. The page was covered in skeletal and muscle diagrams. "What are you reading?"

She flipped the page again, studying it carefully. "Medical book, I'm studying human anatomy so I can optimize my medical alchemy. When I was working on healing your wounds it was so unfamiliar to me, I won't deny that I wasn't sure you would be able to use your arm."

Anthony nodded and looked down at it, still bandaged. "Yeah, thanks again."

he stood up and looked out the window, thinking. "I'm going out for a bit." he said, putting on a shirt.

Jennifer nodded, not looking up from her book as Anthony left, leaving her alone in the house.

Reading his grandfather's book from memory, he found his way to the burnt pile of wood that once was the Elric's house. He looked around at the burnt debris. After reading back through the page dedicated to the burning of this house, Anthony knew he had to come here. He walked around the rubble, he could almost feel the intense heat from the former blaze. Amongst the charcoal and soot, a small brown chest layed, a survivor of the flames. Moving the wooden beams aside, Anthony opened the box, breaking the lock with alchemy. The chest was full of precious memories, the Elric's emergency fire box. Anthony dug through the photographs of his ancestors, some of them going as far back as Ed's great great grandmother. Near the bottom Anthony found a picture of his grandfather's family. His great uncle Alphonse, being held by his mother Trisha, and the tall Hohenheim, holding Ed awkwardly. He smiled, looking at the distracted expression on his young grandpa's face. He pocketed the picture, sealing the chest back up. Fashioning some wheels on it, he was able to push it over to the tree. There he left it, in the shadow of the sunset, as he made his way back to Winry's house.

The next day the cast iron arrived, and Winry and Alicia got right to work repairing the arm. The three waited in the living room while Winry and Alicia worked in the other room. The two came out with the arm, which Alicia handed to Anthony. He slid it slowly over his still bandaged arm, taking a couple quick punches at the air. "Good as new." he said, smiling.

Winry took his hand and put a 3x3x3in block of cast iron in his hand. "Here, so you aren't coming back here every time you need a repair."

Anthony nodded and put it in his backpack. "Alright, let's get going."

the four walked out the door and toward the train station, Alicia stared at Anthony's back, moving her vision down to his wounded arm. 'No matter what,' she thought to herself, 'I will protect you.'

the military detective made his way to the Fuhrer King's quarters, knocking on the door. Once he got permission to enter, he walked in and set some papers down for Simon. "the first of my reports Fuhrer King, I've managed to track down the identity of the Mustang look alike. His name is apparently Trevor Hughes, though I can guess that was merely a ruse his mother thought up to protect the Mustang heritage."

Simon picked up the report, skimming quickly through it. "Excellent, please continue with your reports, What have you come up with for the other two?"

the detective shook his head. "for the Botanic Alchemist, only theories and wild goose chases. As for the leader, the Cast Iron Alchemist, we haven't been able to find any clues or leads. No family lineage, place of birth, nothing."

Simon nodded and dismissed the detective. He got up, walking over to his window. "I will find you Cast Iron Alchemist, your knowledge of me will follow you to the grave." he said to the night sky. "Even if I have to do the job myself."


	6. Chapter 6

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 6: Fire and Ice

The mountains and valleys of northern Amestris were shrouded deep in the snow of a blizzard. It was a wonder anything was around in this frigid area, but a lone supply truck was making it's way to North City, carrying four unannounced passengers. Jennifer sat in the corner reading a medical book. The book flew out of her hand as the truck skidded on a patch of ice. She got up and retrieved her book, sighing. "Jeez, I wish we could have just taken the train."

Alicia yawned and sat up from where she was trying to sleep. "I wish we could too, but they've really upped border patrol, if they searched our packs and found the brigade equipment it's over for us."

Trevor nodded, eating an apple he pilfered from a nearby crate. He stood up and walked to get another one, tossing the core into the corner. "We got lucky, if Anthony hadn't created that fake riot they would have gotten us back in Central."

Anthony was by the other end of the truck, listening in on the conversations of the soldiers in the front of the truck. After a few minutes he nodded and picked up his pack. "They're almost to town, we're going to have to jump out here."

the other three nodded and got their things together, taking some supplies with them. Anthony opened the doors and held them open so the others could jump out. Alicia went first, landing softly in the snow. Trevor and Jennifer followed after her. Anthony swung out and closed the doors again before jumping out into a snow bank. The four joined up and began walking toward North. As they had guessed, the fruit truck was being searched. They went around and climbed over the wall using a vine. It didn't take long for it to be covered with snow after they climbed over. As the four walked into the inn, Alicia let out a shiver. "Why did we have to come here first? We could have gone down to the warm south."

Anthony payed the inn keeper and the four went up to their room. "If we had gone south you would have complained that it was too hot and we should have gone here first."

Trevor and Jennifer let out a snicker, but Alicia scowled at Anthony's back. "Whatever, so what's the plan?"

Anthony took out his brigade coat and put it on, taking out his mask. "Reconnaissance for starters, we need to know exactly what we're dealing with here."

the rest of the team nodded, ready to leave. "Alright, Alicia, you're with me, we're going to do above ground recon. Trevor and Jennifer, you'll do sewer recon. We'll hit them high and low if we can. We'll meet back here on the roof to discuss what we've found."

the other three nodded and they left through the window.

Alicia shivered in the cold as she and Anthony walked along the wall of North HQ. "Did we have to do this immediately?"

Anthony nodded, surveying the courtyard. "the blizzard offers great cover, we don't have to worry about getting caught by guards as much."

Alicia sighed and surveyed the landscape. "If we attack in a blizzard like this we'll be nearly unstoppable. Who's in charge here anyway?"

Anthony took out some binoculars and looked around. "I think her name is Francine, but she refers to herself as Frostbite, I guess that's why she chose to lead the Northern HQ."

Alicia nodded brushed her hair out of her face. Anthony took some notes and quick sketches of the landscape in the journal, then put away the binoculars. "Alright, let's get back and meet up with the others."

Before Alicia had time to reply, they heard the yelling of a guard nearby. "You there, Stay where you are. Don't move or you'll be shot."

Alicia was quick in creating a thick wooden shield, and the two began to run for it. The officers began shooting at the pair. In the commotion and the blinding blizzard, they didn't notice the pit trap that they landed in. They collected their bearings and Anthony prepared to transmute a ladder to escape, but the guards were too quick and surrounded the hole, guns pointed at the two. They raised their arms in surrender. Suddenly, a pair of guards were pulled away from the group, and then two more, the sounds of fighting and gunfire could be heard above. After the noise subsided, a rope ladder was tossed down. The two were sceptical at first to trust it, but eventually climbed up. When the climbed out they were met with a group of ten people in metal masks and jackets similar to their own attire. They were each helped out by one of these members. Most of the masks were very similar and generic, but there was one in a silver jacket and unique mask who stepped forward and shook Anthony's hand. "Mr. Cast Iron Alchemist," he said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you sir. I'm the Flash Freeze Alchemist, second in command of the Fullmetal Brigade North City division. We've been waiting for your arrival."

Anthony shook his hand and nodded. "It's good to see we aren't the only ones out to save this country. We're lucky you came when you did, any longer and we might have been killed."

A strong breeze blew by, and the group braced themselves against it. The Flash Freeze Alchemist chuckled softly and pulled his jacket tightly around him. "Come on, Let's get your stuff and bring you to the base."

Anthony nodded and the group dispersed.

Trevor yawned as he and Jennifer walked down the sewer walkways, examining the walls. Jennifer was plugging her nose, whimpering in disgust. "Ugh, can we please just spend a minute or two on the surface? I feel like I'm going to throw up."

Trevor shook his head and kept walking, examining anything that looked suspicious. "The sooner we finish searching the sooner we can get back to the hotel room. Besides, it's so warm down here, you'd rather be up above in that freezing blizzard?"

Jennifer sighed and followed along, examining the walls. She stopped for a second and looked across at the opposing wall. Transmuting a bridge, she walked over and examined it. "Trevor look at this." she said, running her hands across the wall.

He followed after her and started looking at the wall. "Look, the path splits here, but there's no pathway here. If this were a natural wall of the sewer then the path would continue."

Trevor nodded and started searching the wall with her. "You're right, there has to be something here."

as they searched the wall it suddenly opened. They turned and saw an alchemist in a mask. "Welcome, Mr. Blue Flame Alchemist, Miss Prison Medic Alchemist. I've been sent to retrieve you. Your friends are on the way, please come with me." he said as he began walking into the tunnel.

Trevor and Jennifer looked at each other for a second and followed behind him. The alchemist sealed the door behind them.

The North City alchemist base was large, the main room by itself was three hundred cubic feet. There was no way to tell how deep underground they were, the mine cart had dipped too many times to keep track. The four friends met up at the end of the cart ride and walked in together, led by the Flash Freeze Alchemist. As soon as they entered the four were met by nearly a hundred alchemists who circled them, excited to see the heroes in person. Flash Freeze stepped in front of them, smiling. "As you can see, we have all been awaiting your arrival Mr. Cast Iron Alchemist."

Anthony smiled and removed his mask. "That's quite a mouthful, You can just call me Anthony, Anthony Elric."

when they saw Anthony remove his mask, the other three removed their masks too. "These are my companions. Alicia Rivers, the Botanic Alchemist, Trevor Mustang, the Blue Flame Alchemist, and Jennifer Meadows, the Prison Medic Alchemist."

everyone else removed their masks as they saw the heroes do so. Flash Freeze was the last to remove his mask as he put it in his pocket. "In that case, you can call me Adam, Adam Blacklily. I find it hard to believe that you bear the name Elric, but I'd believe most anything these days. Come with me, our leader would like a word with you."

the four followed Adam across the room as all the other alchemists returned to their business. Alicia looked around the room in amazement. "This is amazing, Adam. It's a lot better than jumping from hotel to hotel like we usually do."

Adam nodded as he continued to lead the group. "We got word about the Fullmetal Brigade when a citizen that was imprisoned suddenly returned. He told the townsfolk stories about how he had travelled from the east all the way north, saved from a work camp by a group claiming they were going to free this country. He disappeared a few days after he returned, word is the military executed him for spreading vicious lies. We would have been inclined to believe the military, but me and a few others who started the northern division heard from a guard that you guys were real, even gave us descriptions. Since then our numbers have grown, we've sent out people all over the northern region recruiting alchemists. Now we have more than a hundred members living here. Six floors of living spaces, and we're working on adding a seventh. Not just alchemists either, we've also got automail and weapon specialists working with alchemists to create alchemy weapons."

he stopped and turned as they approached a door, showing a proud smile at the group. "Thank you, you've given us all a reason to hope for bigger and better things."

without waiting for a reply, Adam opened the door and let them into the room. There was a desk in there, the chair behind it turned with the back facing the doorway. "They're here."

that was all Adam said as he stood next to the group. The chair spun around. "Welcome, Fullmetal Brigade."

Anthony and Jennifer looked in surprise at the person sitting in the chair. Anthony gritted his teeth as he transmuted his wrist sword. "Fang!" he screamed, running at the man in the chair.

He jumped quickly, brushing his black hair aside, placing his hand on the hilt of the sheathed sword at his side, running at Anthony. As he prepared to block his opponent's sword, Anthony was hit with a powerful punch, knocking him backward. He looked to see what had happened, and saw that what he thought was a sword was actually just a sword hilt. The group were quickly seized by the other alchemists, and the man Anthony saw as fang sheathed the sword hilt. "So, he still goes by 'Fang'? How is he doing?"

Anthony looked up at him as he was held by two alchemists, feeling foolish. "Oh, sorry, he was killed."

the man nodded and had the alchemists release the group. "I'm not surprised. Sorry for the confusion by the way but I'm not Thomas, I'm his brother. My name is Zeke Williams, back when my brother was around we used to be known as Claw and Fang, but now I'm the Spirit Blade Alchemist."

Anthony nodded and sheathed his wrist sword. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Anthony Elric. If you don't mind me asking, why do the call you spirit blade?"

Zeke smiled and put his hand back on the hilt. The guard on the end of the hilt began to glow blue as the transmutation circle on it revealed itself. The sheath, a black steel, began to transmute into the blade of the sword. Anthony watched as he swung the blade back and forth. "Amazing."

Zeke nodded, and sheathed his blade again. "Indeed. So, I take it you have a plan prepared for storming North headquarters?"

Anthony shook his head. "No, not yet. But if you have some information, we could start forming a plan right now."

Zeke smiled, leaning against his desk. "Well, perhaps you and I can get the information together. As for the rest of you, feel free to familiarize yourself with the demographics. Miss Prison Medic Alchemist, you can probably find some information on medical alchemy in our infirmary, And Blue Flame, our weapons alchemists have terrific explosives recipes you can test. Miss Botanic, perhaps you can take your group's things to a free room in our residency section, then you can explore on your own."

the group nodded and dispersed as Zeke and Anthony talked about their plan of attack.

Trevor explored the weapons rooms and came to a group working on smoke bomb combinations. He smirked as he pulled out a small bag of table sugar and set it on the table. The group looked over at him questioningly. "if you combine one parts sugar with two parts potassium nitrate, it'll create a slow burning formula of black smoke that isn't harmful to the lungs." he told them.

The head explosives expert smiled and adjusted his glasses. "That's an ignition smoke bomb, not an oxygen smoke bomb, how do you suggest we quick light it?"

He chuckled, taking out a smoke canister and carefully opening it up. Inside the cap was a match head underneath the pull tab, above the pull tab was a fuse. "when you pull the tab quickly it ignites the fuse by lighting the match head, then you have three seconds before the smoke starts."

They all examined the canister with great interest, studying it's mechanics. They all nodded and smiled. "This is perfect, we've been working for weeks on finding an ignition system that's friendly to our flame impaired alchemists. Five minutes in here and you've already perfected an amazing smoke bomb."

Trevor nodded and sat down, sliding his glove on. "You can pay me back by showing me some flame friendly explosives for me to use."

the group look at each other and nodded, then the head explosives expert walked over to a large cabinet and opened it, revealing more than fifty types of successful explosives. "I think we can hook you up."

a smirk went across Trevor's face as he saw the explosives in the cabinet. His mouth nearly watered staring at the mix of pyrotechnics.

Jennifer looked around in awe at the sophisticated infirmary. It was hard to believe that they had so much medical equipment. IV drips hung from the walls, the floor and walls were expertly tiled, creating a soft patting sound as she walked. Near the end of the room there were a few doors, one labelled "LIBRARY". She stepped in and looked around. All around her were medical books on every type of subject one could imagine, all sorted by their subject. She walked past some other alchemists reading and pulled a book from the anatomy shelf. She looked up briefly from her book and saw a young alchemist across the room reading. He looked back and gave her a friendly wink before going back to his book. She blushed shyly and adjusted her glasses, returning to her own book.

After Alicia had the room set up for the group, she made her way down to the mechanics area of the base. Looking around at all the automail workers, a metallic smell in the air, she felt like she was back in Risembool. She walked around the room, looking at all of the different projects people were working on. Near the back she saw a blacksmith alchemist working on weapons. He was constantly redrawing his circle as he did each weapon. Alicia reached into her pocket, taking out one of her alchemy gloves and giving it to him. "Here, there's a circle sewn into the palm."

The man smiled and examined the glove, sliding it on his hand. On the back of the hand she had sewn the brigade symbol, a snake wrapped around a cross. "Thanks, That's a very clever idea."

she smiled and sat down. "Well, I wasn't the one who thought of it, I just varied from Mustang's original idea."

Adam walked up, smiling. "I see you've met Axel, the Metalworks Alchemist. Axel, I need you to make a wooden wrist sword for our friend Anthony so he can train."

Axel nodded, adjusting the glove on his hand as he took a piece of wood and transmuted a wrist sword gauntlet, handing it to Adam. "I'm running out of materials, someone will have to go pick up some more wood and metal."

Adam nodded, taking it and leaving. Alicia smiled and sat down across from him. "You must be very talented."

he nodded and kept working as he talked. "I make about a hundred weapons every day, so yeah I keep busy. This is a brilliant idea thought, the gloves. If you aren't looking for it, you can't see the transmutation circle in the palm, though you should probably remove the brigade symbol on the back."

Alicia nodded and leaned back in her chair. "Well Anthony figured that if we were carrying all our brigade gear anyway we may as well sew it on the gloves too, you know?"

he nodded back and smiled. The two spent the next hour talking about metals and alchemy.

Taking a break from planning, Zeke took Anthony to their training room, which was separated between alchemy practice and weapons training. They walked over to a combat stage, a large, soft mat, and put on some protective armor. Zeke replaced his sword with a wooden duplicate, and Anthony took the wrist sword gauntlet that was so kindly made for him. "I have to warn you," Zeke told him, "I've been practising for ten years in swordsmanship."

Anthony nodded and took a battle stance. "Don't underestimate an Elric with a wrist sword."

he smirked and drew his sword. The two ran at each other and clashed blades. Anthony tried to sweep his opponent's legs, but Zeke was quick and jumped away. The two fought for a good hour and a half before tiring out and sitting down to take a break. They heard clapping coming from the side of the stage, and when they turned they saw Alicia, Trevor, Jennifer, and Adam watching. Alicia walked up and helped Anthony to his feet. "If you guys are done fooling around, we're ready to hear the plan of attack."

the two nodded and put the wooden weapons away and walked back to the office, where the desk was strewn with blueprints and information. Zeke stepped forward with Anthony as the rest listened intently. Zeke pointed to the front entrance. "This plan consists of multiple teams. We, you four and myself, will be team Alpha. Our explosives team, team Beta, will begin the plan by blowing open the front doors of the headquarters. Team Beta will also consist of a group of medical alchemists, led by Jennifer. In the meantime we and team Delta, led by Adam and a group of alchemists of his choosing, will enter through the basement via sewer access. Team Alpha's duty is to defeat Frostbite, while Team Delta will take care of your other objective, the philosopher's stone. Information from our ears on the inside report a room on the bottom third floor, two floors below our entryway, that is always locked. The only groups that come out of there are groups of alchemists with high clearance given to them by Frostbite herself. Thanks to our group on the inside we have gotten a pick pocketed key card that can be used to get into the room. We don't know that the philosopher's stone is in there, but it's our best bet and, according to Anthony here, makes sense architecturally. The mission is to fill a small satchel with philosopher's stones and destroy the room. Getting back to Team Alpha, we'll be making our way up the opposite route, to the top floor. It won't be easy to get to Frostbite. She's got a team of elite guards, both alchemists and swordsmen. We need to be on our toes. As for Frostbite herself, she's ruthless. We've seen her in town before, anyone who gets in her way she freezes solid with her ice alchemy. It was her herself that executed Former President Fuhrer King Roy Mustang."

as Zeke said this, Trevor couldn't help but tense up in anger. Anthony nodded and walked forward. He put a reassuring arm on Trevor's shoulder, continuing where Zeke left off. "Once Frostbite has been taken out of commission and the explosives team finishes setting up detonators, we'll blow the base sky high and return here. Zeke is going to relay this information to the rest of the building while we get ourselves ready."

the team nodded and stood up to leave. Anthony walked with Trevor. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked.

Trevor looked over at him, still a bit angry about the mission at hand, and nodded slowly, putting his gloves on. "I'll be fine."

Jennifer packed a bag full of medical supplies and slung it over her shoulder, getting mentally ready for the upcoming mission. When she turned around she saw the boy she had seen earlier in the library area. "Hi" he said a bit shyly. "I'm Kyle"

she smiled, blushing a bit, and stepped back a moment. "I'm Jennifer."

he nodded and held out a mask with a medical cross etched into it. "Here, you'll need it if you're out in the field won't you?"

Jennifer nodded slowly and took it, smiling. "Thank you."

Kyle smiled back and blushed. "It's nothing, I think it's a wonderful thing you're all doing here. My mother was imprisoned by the military for stealing a coat. They told me she was sent to the east, I haven't seen her since."

Jennifer nodded. "I was also imprisoned in the east...What was your mother's name?"

the smile left his face as he felt a bit sorrowful. "her name was Adiane."

Jennifer looked a bit surprised as she heard the name. "Miss Adiane! I didn't know you were her son. She was so nice to me when I was taken there, she helped me survive."

Kyle looked hopeful as she spoke about it. "Really? That's great. Do you know what happened to her after you were freed?"

Jennifer looked away sadly. "I'm sorry but...she didn't make it that long."

Kyle sighed and shook his head. "it isn't your fault. At least she was able to help someone else survive."

Jennifer nodded and smiled. "Come on, we need to meet up with the others."

Kyle nodded back, and the two walked out of the infirmary.

North HQ was silent in the blizzard. The guards kept their posts, but were startled by the loud explosion near the front gate. All available guards rushed to see the door blown open with a group of alchemists running in with weapons. Blades clashed with each other as the alchemists shaped the land with their alchemy.

The sounds were loud enough to be heard in the sewers underneath as a group of ten alchemists, teams Alpha and Delta, made their way to the basement. After some quick calculation, they were able to successfully break into the basement floor. The two groups nodded at each other and parted ways at the staircase. Adam led his team down the stairs. They were met on the bottom third floor by a group of alchemists attempting to flee, though they ran right past the intruders trying to save their own lives. The group continued on to the door and opened it with the key card. Inside they saw something that made them sick to their stomachs. The walls were covered in blood as dead bodies lay on the floor. In the center of the room was a giant transmutation circle, a group of people on top of it. Adam walked over, barely able to keep from throwing up, and checked the group. It was too late, they were all dead. They bowed their heads for a moment in honor and began searching the room. It wasn't long before they found what they were looking for. Breaking into a safe, they found it was full of philosopher's stones of all types. There were liquid, semi liquid, and solid ones. They did their job and filled a satchel, leaving the rest to be buried in the rubble at the end of the mission. They also took it upon themselves to sketch the transmutation circle, figuring it would be of some help. They set the detonators and left with their capture.

Anthony led the group up the stairwell to the general's quarters. Walking along the wall of the headquarters, they could see the battle below in the courtyard. A pair of guards ran at Anthony, part of Frostbite's personal guard squad. He transmuted his wrist sword and dug it deep into the abdomen of the first, the second took a shot in the same place by Zeke's sword. They reached the wall of the general's quarters and busted in. They were met inside with ten guards, half holding swords, half holding chalk. The group prepared themselves and began to battle. Metal clashed with metal, alchemy with alchemy, as the group fought their way through the room. By the time the battle was done, the group stood tall as the victors. A flash of blue light shone from the other side of the room as the floor was covered in ice. The group had their feet encased in ice as cackling came from the origin point. A woman walked out from the shadows, wearing a full fleece military ensemble. "Well well, I take it you are the infamous Fullmetal Brigade. What lovely masks, I don't recognize a couple of them though. There's a Fullmetal mask, the one with the sword looks like that alchemist I executed a few years ago."

she stopped in front of Trevor, an evil smile across her face. "Well, don't we look familiar. Roy Mustang, such a lovely eulogy. I remember pulling the lever and letting him hang, I really enjoyed it."

Trevor gritted his teeth and snapped his fingers. Frostbite got out of the way just in time to avoid injury. He had melted the ice around the group, they were all free. "You shut up about Roy Mustang! You guys go, help the group in the courtyard."

Alicia wanted to protest, but Anthony stopped her before she spoke up. "Alright, good luck."

As they fled for the exit, Frostbite tried to stop them by sealing the room with ice, but she was stopped by Trevor's mighty blue flame. "Frostbite, I will be your opponent today."

Jennifer was busy at work on the battlefield. Most of the medics had died while working on soldiers, only her, Kyle, and one other medic remained on the battlefield. The third medic was going to the emergency crates to restock on bandaging. Jennifer had just used her last one on an alchemist with a chest wound, and she began to run toward the crates. She didn't get far before she was shot in the leg by an enemy soldier with a rifle. He stepped forward to finish her off, but Kyle pushed the man out of the way and took the shot in the chest. "No!" Jennifer screamed as he fell into the bloody snow next to her.

He rolled over and pulled a roll of bandages out of his satchel, wrapping up her wound and healing it with his glove. He passed out as she got up and rolled him on his back. She checked his satchel and began to cry. There weren't any bandages left in his satchel. She shivered and cried, knowing that the crates were too far away to help. She tried to seal up the wound without it but to no avail. His breathing opened the wound back up as he expanded and compressed his chest. Eventually he stopped breathing, and it was too late. Jennifer began to cry, laying there in the snow she looked at his face, reaching out slowly and rubbing his cold cheek. She stared at his mask, running her fingers along the carving of his mother's hair. She took the mask off him and quickly replaced her own mask with his. She didn't waste any time in getting more bandages and continued healing the wounded. Anthony's group came on the scene quickly, which turned the battle in their favor, as the unexpected reinforcements took them out from behind. The battle continued in the freezing blizzard.

Trevor and Frostbite both panted, tired from the harsh combat. Ice and burn marks covered the walls. Frostbite glared and ran at him for a kick. Trevor tried to dodge but was slammed against the wall by her second whirling foot. With her opponent on the ground, she quickly drew a circle and trapped him there with ice. She smirked and stood up, staring across the room at her opponent. "Well, looks like you're just as bad as the man you cherish so greatly. And now you will die a foolish hero, just like your idol before you."

she transmuted an icicle axe, extremely sharp and frigid, and began walking toward him. Trevor was able to break his arm free, he quickly snapped his fingers. Frostbite tried to evade, but Trevor successfully used the icicles to make it arc behind her and ignite it in a bright blue flame. She screamed with pain as her arm was caught in the explosion. Trevor quickly melted the ice as Frostbite now lay against the wall of the room. She gasped with pain and looked in fear as Trevor weakly approached her. "No!" she screamed, "Stay back!"

she sent spikes of ice at him, but Trevor was quick in his flames and they quickly became a cloud of steam. Trevor stood in front of her, fearful on the ground. "Who...are you?"

Trevor slid his mask off, showing his face to her. "I am Trevor Mustang, the Blue Flame Alchemist. For your crimes against my family, I sentence you to death." he said as he snapped his fingers.

She ignited in a bright blue spark, the last thing he heard was her scream. Trevor left to join the others, his mask back on his face.

The courtyard had been terraformed into a pit of massive structures, spikes, and bloody bodies. Trevor joined the rest of the group, mourning their fallen comrades. They looked at each other and nodded, then left the courtyard. Trevor snapped his fingers and lit the first charges, igniting the rest in the process. The buildings came tumbling down in a mass of explosive debris. Anthony and Alicia pressed their palms to the ground, and transmuted a snake wrapped around a cross into the rubble. With their mission completed, they returned to the base, an emotional mix of loss and victory amongst the group.

There was a great celebration in the victory back at the base, though for some spirits were low. Jennifer stared at her reflection in her new mask, full of sorrow at her lost comrade. Trevor was no better, leaning against a wall. He had finally killed the woman who had killed his father, but his spirits were no better, his father was still dead. Alicia and Anthony, seeing their friends upset, couldn't have much fun either. Finally, near the end of the night, Zeke stood up in front of everyone. "We have done a great thing tonight, we have liberated the north. But our job is not yet done. Anthony, the Cast Iron Alchemist, will explain."

Zeke moved away for Anthony to approach the podium. "Starting tomorrow, you will all start moving to Central. I'm sure you are all familiar with Laboratory 5. In groups of four, I want you to go there, the first few groups will create a way in through the sewers, and then they will reinforce the laboratory in quiet, hiding the windows so that we avoid the blue light of our alchemy being seen. Once the laboratory can house our army, wait there for more groups to come from the west and the south. This is the start of a revolution. We will realize what my grandfather, the Fullmetal Alchemist, tried to realize. We will break down this government rule, and build this country from the ground up. Zeke will travel with us, and a group of mechanics I want to go to Risembool in the East to a place called Rockbell Automail. Tell her the Cast Iron Alchemist sent you, and start building weaponry. We'll need it to face the enemy army. You are all honorable alchemists, and I'll be happy to fight alongside you."

Anthony ended with a chorus of "Alchemists for the people" and let them get back to partying.

Simon sat in his office reading the latest report from his investigator. He was able to ascertain the identity of the Botanic Alchemist. Alicia Rivers of Risembool. It was still unclear to him who the Cast Iron Alchemist was, but he was getting closer. He looked over the report a hundred times, he knew everything about her, and was planning his next move. He was interrupted as a soldier walked in. "Sir, we just got word, North HQ has been destroyed!"

he looked up at the soldier and gritted his teeth. "Cast Iron and his pals are still at it then. Well we'll have to put a stop to that."

he took one more good look at Alicia's file and smirked. "Thank you for you're helpful information soldier. Tell me, how is the pride project coming?"

the soldier checked his own papers. "So far successful sir, I think we're ready for the final product sir."

Simon nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Good, tell the alchemists to carry on."

the soldier saluted and left. Simon got up and stared out his window, his eyes full of contempt. "I hope you've had fun Cast Iron Alchemist, it's time to find out what happens when you mess with me."


	7. Chapter 7

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 7: Western Standoff

An alchemist in a lab coat made his way to Simon's office. He knocked on the door, and was welcomed in. Simon was staring out the window when he walked in. "Sir," he began, "The pride project was a complete success. Subject has been fully tested and has sustained combat knowledge prior to death."

Simon nodded, a dark smile across his face. "Excellent, his first assignment is sitting there on the table, take it to him, and give him a pair of soldiers as escorts."

the alchemist nodded and took the file from Simon's desk, leaving the room. Simon couldn't help but laugh as he thought of his plan coming to fruition.

A train went speeding through the rails of the western territory of Amestris. Anthony and crew were making the best of crowding on the caboose, the wind blowing heavily against them. Alicia sighed as she shuffled around for space. "Couldn't we have just taken the supply trucks like we usually do?"

Trevor shook his head, leaning over the rail. "It's safer if we hop trains, we're less likely to get caught this way. Besides, Zeke set up a rendezvous on the train's path with the brigade's western division."

Anthony climbed down from the train's top where he was keeping lookout, standing on the ladder. "We're approaching the jump, get ready."

the group nodded and adjusted their bags on their backs as the train began driving over a large bridge. Jumping one at a time, they landed with large splashes in the water. Once they all waded to shore and dried off, they sat and waited at the shoreline for their guide. It wasn't until late into the day that a man arrived, wearing a brigade jacket and mask. "Greetings Cast Iron Alchemist and friends. I am the Mammoth Quake Alchemist. Please follow me, the brigade headquarters isn't too far from here."

Anthony nodded and the group stood up, following the alchemist to the mountainous West City. West was a large citadel. Surrounded on three sides by mountains, it was the ultimate war base. Being a city built for war, it had far more soldiers and defences than any other main base in Amestris. Walking around to the northern mountain, the Mammoth Quake Alchemist led them into an old mine shaft, opening the secret door into the base. The base was large, stretching deep down into the earth. Mammoth led them across the main room, where people stepped out of the way, whispering to each other as the group passed by. Opening the door to the leader's office, they found a beautifully lit room with paintings on the surrounding walls, and a woman sitting behind a desk. She looked up from her paperwork and smiled at the group. "well it looks like you've finally made it. Thank you Edgar you are dismissed. Welcome Fullmetal Brigade, I am Samantha Wilkins, the Gemstone Alchemist."

Mammoth Quake left the room as Samantha got up from her desk and approached the group, brushing her silvery white hair out of her face as she stood in front of Anthony. She brought her hand up to his cheek, smiling. "My my, you're much cuter than your description."

Anthony couldn't help but blush as Alicia glared at Samantha from behind him. Alicia pushed him out of the way and stared at her. "Since we already know who's who, let's get down to business. What are we looking at in terms of opposition?"

Samantha frowned and leaned back against her desk. "Well you're no fun. Being a military town we're faced with military opposition, and they're onto your tricks. All sewer access has been permanently locked down, and there's heavy guard patrol in all sectors of the headquarters, especially the basement floors. It doesn't look like getting in will be easy."

Anthony nodded in agreement, thinking hard on the situation. "these mountains are full of mines right Samantha?"

she looked over at him and nodded. Anthony smiled and looked across the room at everyone. "I need to do some reconnaissance, but I think I have a plan."

Axel made his way down the streets of Risembool on his way back to Winry's house, carrying groceries in his hands. Fumbling through is pocket, he found the key and slid it in the lock, opening the door. "Miss Winry, I'm ba-"

he dropped the groceries in a panic, gasping in surprise at what he saw. He backed away, turned and ran toward the train station. "no...no no no no no! I have to tell Anthony!"

Anthony and Samantha stood atop the western mountain of West city, looking down at it from high above. Anthony slid down toward some loose rock and examined it. He smiled, running his hand over the rock. "Alright, this one will work, let's get going to the last one."

Samantha nodded and followed along next to him.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Jennifer and Trevor walked the streets of the city, taking photographs as they went. It was extremely uncomfortable, being surrounded by soldiers as they worked. Even though no one knew their true faces, it was still very discerning.

Alicia stayed behind with Zeke, studying the reports they had of the leading general, an alchemist that combined his sword skill with his alchemy, Lawrence the Stone Sword Alchemist. Alicia was having trouble focusing, not able to get the thought of Samantha and Anthony out together working out of her head. She did her best to focus on the matter at hand, looking at the photo of her upcoming enemy. Lawrence was the oldest person they had met so far. He combed his hair, white with age, back behind his head, and wore very formal clothing as he carried his sword at his side. She sighed and put down the report, taking out the satchel of philosopher's stones from her satchel. Zeke looked over at her and took her files from her. "you go ahead and work on that, I'll finish this up."

She looked up at Zeke, who was smiling down at her. She smiled back and nodded, going to the group's quarters to work. She took out some papers and some chalk, studying the notes on the philosopher's stone Anthony had copied out for her. They hadn't made much headway in reversing the stones yet, but she could feel they were close. Already they had cracked the symbols pertaining to life, death, night, day, and the relation to human transmutation, they just needed to figure out how to put it in reverse. Anthony walked in on her working and sat down. "Working on this again?"

she nodded, rubbing her head. "I feel like we're so close. A stone is basically red water and souls right? How could something so basic be so difficult?"

Anthony nodded and looked up at the ceiling. "I know, it's amazing isn't it. My grandfather could bond souls to armor, but he couldn't figure out the secrets of philosopher's...bond souls to armor...souls..."

Anthony turned to the other side of the table and took the chalk, drawing out the design they had found came closest to destroying the stone. "could it really be this simple?"

Anthony took his grandfather's journal out of his back pocket and flipped to the page with the blood seal on it. Alicia watched curiously as he replicated the design within the circles of the already drawn symbols of the circle, finishing with the upside down cane. Taking a philosopher's stone from the bag, he set it on the circle. He smiled down at the circle he had drawn, and clapped his hands together. Pressing his palms flat to the circle, it began to glow brightly. Anthony froze up and held his head, yelling in pain. Moving through his body were all the souls of the philosopher's stone. He could see all of them, all their memories flooding through him at once. He fell to the ground and passed out. Alicia got down on her knees at his side and shrugged him, trying to wake him up. "Anthony! Anthony!"

she turned to the circle that they had drawn. Where once there sat a philosopher's stone there was only a wooden night stand again, getting soaked by red water.

Anthony woke up in the dark. He stood up, looking around, but all he could see was blackness. He finally saw something in the distance. As he ran closer, he found Winry, smiling as she stood there in front of him. "Miss Winry..."

she smiled and walked up, hugging him tightly. He blushed and hugged back. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Winry smiled at him and began to fade away. "Miss Winry!"

she smiled still and became younger as she faded, turning back into her younger self. "Please, take care of Alicia."

that was the last thing she said before she faded away.

Anthony woke up, rubbing his aching head. Alicia was asleep, her head resting on his bed, sitting in a chair next to it. He smiled softly as he looked at her laying there, and everyone else passed out in their beds. "I promise." he whispered to himself.

Alicia began to stir as she looked up and saw him awake. She smiled and hugged him tightly. "thank goodness. Everyone wake up, he's awake."

the rest of the group began to awaken as she spoke, and they all surrounded his bed. Trevor smiled, patting his back. "That was quite a scare you gave us. We thought you'd never wake up."

Jennifer nodded, adjusting her glasses and brushing her hair away from her face. "You've been asleep for a week Anthony, we thought you were in a coma of some sort."

Alicia nodded, looking at him worriedly. "What happened Anthony? You destroyed the philosopher's stone and then you passed out."

Anthony rubbed his head, still hurting a bit. "When I released the stone, all the souls came blasting through my body, I guess once they're released they go to the one who performed the transmutation, looking for a catalyst. They passed through me and moved on to the afterlife. But...I saw them, all of their memories, it was a bit of a shock."

everyone was in awe, they had never heard of such a thing before. "Well, at least this is a step in the right direction." Trevor said, scratching his chin.

Anthony shook his head. "this is the destination, we've figured it out."

Alicia shook her head, putting her hand over his. "Anthony, we can't possibly use this circle, we thought you were put into a coma."

Anthony shook his head again and got out of bed, stretching. "It was just a shock, with practice I can master it, I'm sure of that."

Alicia sighed and shook her head, seeing she couldn't talk him out of it. She counted the stones in the bag. "Well, I hope you can master it in fifteen tries." Anthony smirked and slid his black metal armor on, while Alicia took out some blank gloves and thread. "I'm sure of it."

Samantha sat in her office, going over everything Anthony had the group collect. She couldn't make much sense of it, so she had to wait until Anthony woke up. As if by a stroke of luck, Anthony led the group into her office, all of them fully equipped in their brigade clothing. Samantha smiled and walked out from behind her desk. "It's good to see you up and moving again."

Anthony nodded and looked over everything that was gathered. "Alright, it's time for my plan."

the group nodded and listened intently. Anthony took out a marker and began circling different parts of the map. "at exactly midnight, three groups of earth alchemists will create a tremor just large enough to loosen the rock on the mountains that was loosened by mining. It will create a landslide on the three walls they surround. From there, we should be able to attack from three sides. Samantha will join our team to take out Lawrence. Since it's apparent he hasn't used philosopher's stones to control his ageing body, we can assume that there aren't any in the building. Even if there are, we don't need any more. So let's take him out and get it done."

the group nodded and Samantha smiled. "I'll go tell the rest of the alchemists."

the group nodded and dispersed to prepare for the upcoming night.

Anthony and crew stood on top of a tall building, looking out at the city. Anthony kept track of the time on his pocket watch, which was synchronized to the watches of everyone else in the western area. He followed with his eyes as the seconds counted down to the start of the plan. "55...56...57...58...59...midnight."

right on schedule, the rocks came crashing down on the city, it was time. The group jumped from the top of the building and made their way to West headquarters, the town turning to rubble before their eyes. They were stopped on the way by a group of guards who were fleeing. Anthony quickly created a wall of rock to protect them, but they were carrying heavy artillery, and the wall wouldn't hold for long. Anthony growled, thinking of his next move. "Split up, Alicia and Zeke with me, everyone else deal with the soldiers in town."

the group nodded and split up, the wall fell just as Anthony, Zeke, and Alicia took to the rooftops toward the headquarters. Anthony could see the falling rocks destroy it's walls, but the main building didn't fall. It was clear that the earth alchemist they sought was there in the main building. Jumping across the rubble, they made their way into the building, climbing the stairs to the general's quarters. Kicking in the door, they saw a man sitting in a chair, a sword leaning against the wall next to him. He sipped his tea slowly and stood up, picking up his sword. "such ruckus, can't a man sit and enjoy a cup of tea without some rude young group bursting into his office?"

Anthony clapped his hands together and transmuted his wrist sword, Alicia created her own out of wood, and Zeke summoned his own blade for battle. Anthony stepped forward, raising his blade. "Lawrence, I am the Cast Iron Alchemist, leader of the Fullmetal Brigade. We, the alchemists of the people, will defeat you and save this country."

Lawrence shook his head and drew his sword. "Very well then, I will accept your challenge."

with incredible speed, Lawrence ran at Anthony. Just in time, Anthony blocked and kicked him away, clapping and locking his legs to the ground. Lawrence smirked as he dug his sword into the ground. The base of the hilt glowed as the circle revealed itself and the rock disappeared from his feet and fell from the roof as boulders on the group. Alicia quickly transmuted a canopy to block the rocks. As if from nowhere, Zeke came up behind Lawrence and dug his sword into the enemy's back. His blade was blocked suddenly from under Lawrence's clothing. Lawrence smirked and sliced Zeke across the chest. Zeke had enough to to react that the gash wasn't too deep. Lawrence removed his jacket, revealing the undershirt and the rocky armor covering his skin. "Just give up, you can't possibly defeat me."

Anthony ran at his enemy, his arm out. Lawrence prepared to block, but was caught off guard when Anthony clapped his hands and pressed them against his enemy's chest. He yelled in pain as he felt the stone covering him start to stab him. Anthony kicked him hard in the chest and shattered the rock that he turned against his foe. Lawrence dropped his sword on the ground, and Zeke passed his sword to Anthony, who dug it deep into Lawrence's chest. Anthony sighed and pulled the blade out, sliding it across the floor to Zeke. "We're done here, let's go."

the two nodded and began to leave. Alicia walked up to join Anthony, and noticed Lawrence, still clinging to life, draw a circle out of blood. He kicked up the floor beneath his sword and sent it flying at Anthony. Alicia ran in between the two and took the blade in her stomach, falling to her knees in pain. "Alicia!" Anthony screamed, falling to his knees and pulling the sword out of her stomach. "why? Why did you jump in front?"

Alicia looked up at him and smiled, breathing heavily. "That's why I'm here...to make the risks...less risky..."

she coughed up some blood and leaned up, kissing him softly on the cheek before he passed out. Anthony blushed and glared, picking her up and carrying her on his back. "You fool..."

Zeke took a look at her. "We need to get her back to Jennifer quickly."

Anthony nodded and began running, carrying her on his back. 'I won't let her die, I'll keep my promise.' he thought to himself.

Alicia was unconscious for four days recovering, Anthony by her side the whole time. Finally, she awoke and sat up, her stomach hurting. "Be careful," Anthony said, "You took a bad blow."

Alicia nodded and looked down. "Yeah...I'm sorry."

Anthony shook his head and smiled. "There's nothing to be sorry for, you saved my life."

Alicia giggled and smiled. "I guess that makes us even."

Anthony nodded and chuckled softly. An alchemist knocked on the door and stepped in. "Mr. Cast Iron Alchemist, there's someone here to see you."

Anthony was confused as a tired Axel walked in and fell onto the bed, breathing heavily. Alicia looked surprised as he walked in. "Axel!"

she got up and walked over to the bed. Axel sat up, his breath caught. "A-Anthony...I have something to tell you...It's about Winry."

Anthony stood in front of Winry's grave, which sat next to her parents' and her grandmother's. Anthony's hand shook with a mix of anger and sadness. Everyone around him was in low spirits with him, especially Alicia. Anthony fell to his knees, crying and shivering. Alicia got down on her knees and comforted him. "It's all my fault...It's all my fault..."

Alicia shook her head. "no it's not, This was a warning to all of us Anthony, not just you."

Anthony looked at his hand, still shivering. "I shouldn't have come here..."

Alicia gasped and slapped him. "Don't you dare say that!"

Anthony rubbed his cheek, looking up at the now crying Alicia. "Anthony, if you weren't here that would be my grave! Don't you remember how you saved me? You formed this brigade, you gave us hope, don't you dare say you shouldn't be here!"

Anthony held his cheek, looking up at her. "Alicia..."

Trevor stepped forward, helping Anthony to his feet. "Anthony, I didn't know Winry as well as you and Alicia, but I do know that if you hadn't come along, I would have spent my life living in that cabin, hating my father for what he did. Now I see what he did was for the greater good. You showed me that Anthony, because you're here."

Jennifer got out her medical glove and healed his bruised cheek, adjusting her glasses. "If you hadn't come along, I wouldn't have been able to help so many people, I would have just sat in that weapons factory for the rest of my life, helping the bad side. You let me flourish Anthony, don't ever forget that."

she stood up and stepped back. Zeke looked over at him. "I didn't know Winry, and I barely know any of you, but I've seen what you're all capable of, and if you're the cause of that strength Anthony, if you're the cause of my own strength too, I can't say I was better off before I met you."

Anthony wiped his eyes, staring at Winry's grave. "guys...thank you. I need some time alone to think for myself."

he walked away, headed off toward a hill his grandfather wrote about, where he went to think. Staring up at the sky, Anthony thought about what his group had been through over the past seven months. He had come very far from the person he was when he came here, from the person who stood in front of his grandfather's grave crying over a lost soul. He was a source of hope, fulfilling his grandfather's dream. Anthony pulled the pocket watch from his pocket, staring at it. No matter how much he looked at it, knowing it was a symbol of hope, he could only see the sorrow he had caused. He sighed and rested his hand. The pocket watch slipped from his hand and rolled downhill into the river. Anthony gasped and followed after it, jumping in the river to find it. He saw it and picked it up, smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something else in the water. Picking it up, he saw it was a pocket watch, just like the one he had, but rusted from years in the river. The watch was opened, and had been for a long time. The clock's hands had long since broken, but on the inside of the lid, he could make out a crude carving through the rust. "never forget...3 oct 11."

Anthony looked over his own watch, confused, and found something else inscribed in small lettering on the side of his. "Willard Custom Watches, Germany."

Anthony couldn't help but laugh, sitting in the river looking at the two watches. He got up out of the river and put the rusted watch in his backpack, pulling out his alchemy glove. Pressing his palm to the silver watch, he changed the inscription inside. It now read "NEVER FORGET...3 OCT 11...& 5 SEP 93." he smiled, looking at it and closed the watch, attaching the watch to his waist again and pocketing it.

Alicia waited on the balcony of Winry's house, watching the horizon late into the day. Finally, in the distance was a familiar figure. She ran downstairs and out the door toward him, giving him a tight hug. He smiled and hugged back. "Sorry about that...I had a lot to think about."

the group nodded in understanding. Anthony looked over at Trevor. "Trevor, I have a request for you."

Trevor nodded, listening intently. "When you become Fuhrer, I want Rockbell Automail to be a national landmark."

Trevor smiled and nodded. "You got it. So what's the plan fearless leader?"

Anthony smiled and walked up to the wall, holding a piece of chalk. "Priority 1: master the philosopher's stone reverse circle. Priority 2: take out South Headquarters. Priority 3: find the way to get me home. And the final priority: stop Fuhrer King Simon and save Amestris."

the group cheered and smiled, pumped up. Alicia handed Anthony a glove, with the reverse circle sewn into it. Anthony looked up at everyone as he put on the glove. "We have a long road ahead of us, let's get started."

everyone put their hands in and screamed "Alchemists for the people!"

Simon sat in his office, happy with himself and his latest attack on the enemy. A man in black with long black hair walked in, carrying a sword at his side. "You called for me sir?"

Simon nodded, sipping some wine. "I was happy with your test run, and now I want you to take over southern command."

the mysterious man saluted him. "yes sir!"

Simon smiled and looked at him. "good luck with your new assignment, South General Fang."

Fang brushed his hair out of his face, smiling an evil smile, his left eye dark red with an ouroboros tattoo. "With all due respect sir, it's Fang the Proud."

he cackled and left the office. Simon smiled, staring out at Central City. "I'm not finished yet, Cast Iron Alchemist."


	8. Chapter 8

Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 8: Reunion in the South

Simon smiled as he sat in his office. There hadn't been any activity from the Cast Iron Alchemist's group in nearly two months. Though the Fullmetal Brigade wore on in the south, he was confident his newest general could sniff them out. Unfortunately, word of the rebellion was spreading to Central, but it wasn't a threat he couldn't handle. A few graffiti artists and a some delinquints, no more than a minor threat. He laughed, feeling a sense of victory.

Alicia woke up early to get started on breakfast, feeling somewhat happy to be back home at Rockbell Automail. She opened up the drapes to let some light into the room, and saw Anthony sitting outside, reading from his grandfather's journal again. She smiled and walked outside, taking the book out of his hands. "You know normal people do this thing called sleeping, you should try it sometime."

She smiled and stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. Anthony smirked and stood up, trying to take the book back. "Well what are you doing up miss bright and early?"

She giggled and kept the book behind her back as he tried to reach for it. "I'm making breakfast, somebody's gotta keep this group eating healthy."

Anthony kept trying to reach for the book, but she continued to bob and weave as he stretched his arms out. Anthony's foot slipped and he came crashing down on top of her. The two looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. They helped each other up and Alicia handed back his book. "Why do you read that so much? I thought you'd already finished it."

Anthony nodded and smiled. "The more you read a book, the more you uncover. I told you that before. Through the first read you can understand what's explained, but I couldn't understand everything. Like this passage here, I still can't understand it. 'Lust said that homonculus are vulnerable only when they are near a part of their original body.' I can't even begin to understand it. I don't know who Lust is, nor what a homonculus is."

Alicia flicked his forehead and smiled. "Fool, did you even read those Alchemy books?"

she picked one up and looked at the table of contents, then shuffled through to a passage near the back. "A homonculus is a human soul that has passed on that has been put into a new body. It's like human transmutation in a way. But according to the book homonculus have never actually been created."

Anthony nodded and looked down at his grandfather's journal. "Well this book is full of things that shouldn't have been created, and it lists a lot of homonculus that my grandfather met. Greed, Lust, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, who mimicked their mother. But worst of all was Pride, who masqueraded as President Fuhrer King Bradley, the reason Roy Mustang was falsely executed. The one thing he does note about each of them is that they each had an ouroboros tattoo somewhere on their body. That's how Ed knew they were homonculus."

Alicia sighed and rubbed her head. "Whatever, come on inside and help me with breakfast."

Anthony put the book in his back pocket and walked in with Alicia.

Anthony looked around the table as the group were just finishing breakfast. Before everyone got up, Anthony stood up and put on his philosopher glove. "Everyone, before we split up for the day, I want to show you all something."

The group looked over at Anthony, waiting to see what he wanted to show them. Anthony pulled out a philosopher's stone, the last one they had. He dropped it into his palm and closed his hand around it. With a flash of bright red light, the stone turned to red water, drizzling out of his closed palm. Anthony stood there, staring at his hand as he opened it, standing strong and conscious. Everyone looked at him and smiled, they all knew what this meant. "It's time, Everyone pack your bags, we're leaving for the south."

the group cheered, pumped and ready to return to their journey. He smiled at the table and looked around at his group. "Fullmetal Brigade, move out!"

Anthony stood in front of Winry's gravestone. He smiled, his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm going now. We're going to finish this, and I'll keep my promise."

he smiled, and walked away, toward the train station. With the brigade hiding out for so long, the military had ceased bag checking on trains, and it was safe for them to travel again. The group nodded between each other, and boarded the train, sitting down in a private booth. The train made a brief fuel stop in a small southern town called Lethelite. The group got off to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. Anthony looked at the town's sign and smiled. "Well, I think we have time for a short stop."

the group looked at Anthony, a bit confused as he beckoned them to follow him into town. He checked Ed's journal and smiled. "here it is."

he walked up to a nearby house and knocked on the door. The sound of dogs barking could be heard behind the door, and a man pushing them aside. He answered the door, a pair of glasses hanging carefully on his nose. He was an old man, but clearly very well spirited. He looked across the group with his wise eyes. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Anthony pulled out his pocket watch and opened it, showing the inscriptions to the man. "It's good to meet you, Mr. Breda."

the man smiled and shuffled out of the way to let them in, three black dogs staring at them from down the hall.

Samantha walked the halls of laboratory 5, making sure everyone was busy at work preparing for the brigade's arrival. A woman from the north walked up to her. "Ma'am, there's a phone call for you on the brigade line."

she walked over to the phone quickly and picked up. "Hello?...Anthony!...uh huh...Alright I'll start preparing some more rooms...What?...yep, it's all set, by the time you get here we'll have the whole town against the military...Bye."

Samantha smiled and picked up a nearby flyer from a stack. She looked it over and nodded. "WHERE IS THE FUHRER?" is all it said, with the most recent picture of him they could get.

The group sat in Breda's living room, the three dogs sniffing around the mysterious new visitors, particularly interested in Trevor. Trevor sighed and shuffled as the dogs sniffed around him. "Nice dogs."

Breda smiled at him and sipped some tea. "Well I should think so, they're strong dogs, and very brave. They were bred from a military hound."

Trevor looked a little surprised and looked down at the dogs, remembering what his mother told him. "You mean these dogs..."

Breda nodded and smiled. "These dogs are Black Hayate's pups. Rightfully, they belong to you."

Trevor looked at the three dogs, who seemed to look back with a sense of loyalty. "Breda...I want you to keep one, you raised them after all. It would be wrong to steal all three."

Breda smiled and nodded, accepting the terms. Trevor looked at the two dogs he was taking. "What are their names?"

Breda shook his head. "I never named them, it didn't feel right."

Trevor nodded. "I'll think up names for them soon enough."

Anthony walked in from the next room and joined the rest of the group. Breda looked up at him. "did you find the phone alright?"

Anthony nodded and checked the time. "Sorry to leave so soon, Mr. Breda, but our train will be leaving soon."

Breda nodded. "It's alright, just make sure you finish what you started."

Anthony nodded, and the group left for the train station with a pair of four legged companions.

The train finally arrived at it's final stop in Dublith, the city closest to South headquarters. As promised by Zeke, there was a group waiting there to lead them to brigade south headquarters. It wasn't a far walk, just a couple blocks from the train station, in a bar called "Devil's Nest." one of the girls in the leading group smiled at Anthony. "Our leader has been waiting to see you, ever since Zeke told him your name."

Anthony looked a bit confused as they led the group into the leader's office. The man sitting in the chair looked to be around 25 years old, standing tall and wise, with black hair tied back in a ponytail. He smiled at the group and spotted Anthony immediately. "Anthony Elric, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've been expecting your arrival for a long time."

Anthony smiled and held out his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you too. You know my name, would you mind telling me yours?"

the man smiled and shook his hand. "the Devoted Son Alchemist, Edward Elric Curtis, nice to finally meet you."

Anthony looked really surprised when he heard the name. "Curtis...but-" he began, but was immediately interrupted.

"But my foster mother couldn't have kids of her own." he said, smiling.

Anthony smiled back and nodded. "It's nice to meet you Edward. I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

Edward nodded and walked around behind his desk, sitting down. "About that, there's a bit of a problem."

he pulled a newspaper out from behind his desk and set it down. "SOUTH GENERAL KILLED, REPLACED BY NEW GENERAL." Anthony looked at the paper, surprised. "killed? Replaced?"

Edward nodded, his arms crossed. "the military claims that he was murdered by the brigade, but we haven't done anything to kill him. I think it was this new general, he must be someone specially trained to deal with us."

Anthony shook his head. "this isn't good. Let's do some reconnaissance, see what we can gather."

Edward nodded and stood up. "We'll split up and report back here afterward."

Anthony, Trevor and Alicia sat in a tree, observing the courtyard of South headquarters. Anthony looked out at the guards with his binoculars. He shook his head. "Something's wrong, there are barely any guards here."

Alica nodded, looking through her own pair. "I don't like the way this looks."

things weren't much better below ground with Edward, Zeke, and Jennifer. They stood there, staring at the door that would take them inside headquarters. Edward shook his head. "No, this is bad. I was down here just last week and it was sealed off. Somebody's opened it up."

Zeke looked worried. "Let's get back, we need to report this to the rest of the group."

the other two nodded and headed back toward the brigade headquarters.

Anthony leaned against the wall, deep in thought. Trevor was frustrated that he couldn't think of anything. "Just what the hell are they trying to pull?"

Edward sighed. "Maybe they're short handed after the death of the previous general."

Alicia shook her head. "that doesn't make sense, if the last general was killed then they would have more guards on patrol."

Anthony finally stood up, looking at the group around him. "Then it's a challenge. I don't know who this new general is, but he's challenging his might against the brigade. He must be very strong."

Trevor nodded. "then let's get everyone together and take him out."

Anthony shook his head. "we'll keep this to just the six of us. If he wants to fight, we'll show him just how powerful the brigade is. We strike at midnight."

the group, though a little uneasy about the plan, nodded and left for their rooms.

It felt as though midnight came quickly as the group left through the Devil's Nest entrance. Before they could leave, however, they were beckoned back by loud barking. The group turned and saw Trevor's two dogs, begging the group to return. Trevor walked up to them and patted them both on the head. "Stay, I'll be back later. Stay."

the two dogs whimpered, but silenced their barking, and the group left for South. Anthony smiled at Trevor. "Have you picked names for them yet?"

Trevor shook his head. "My head's a blank. That's not what we should be focusing on right now anyway."

Anthony nodded and led the group to the doors of the courtyard, filling the locks with black powder. He stepped aside and nodded to Trevor, who ignited the black powder, blowing open the doors. The group rushed in, but the courtyard was empty. They looked around but saw no one. Then they heard someone clapping. They looked up at the tallest building in the courtyard. They could make out a man sitting on top of the building. He jumped down from the top of the building, and the group watched in surprise as he landed without a scratch. Anthony and Zeke were more fearful of who they saw clapping his hands. "I must commend you," he began, "that was quite an entrance."

Zeke shook his head viciously. "it's not possible...it's not!"

Anthony backed away a bit, his entire body tense with fear. "Head Warden Fang?"

Fang cackled, looking at the fear in their faces. He brushed the hair out of his eye and revealed to them his ouroboros eye. "It's Fang the Proud, Cast Iron. I'd heard you had fought with my former self."

Zeke turned to Anthony. "Cast Iron, what's going on here? You said he was dead!"

Anthony nodded, calming down. "he is dead."

Zeke glared from behind his mask. "Then what the hell is going on?"

Anthony stared at Fang's ouroboros eye and he knew the answer. "Homonculus."

Fang smiled and drew his sword, a glistening steel katana. "I'm impressed, Cast Iron. You know a lot about things you shouldn't."

Anthony clapped and transmuted his wrist sword, and Zeke drew his own sword. Everyone else raised their arms, ready to fight. Fang looked around at them and shook his head. "six on one? Not very fair. Allow me to uneven the odds."

he snapped his fingers, and a door opened behind him. The group watched as nearly sixty chimera came out to join Fang. The group did their best to look unwavering against the large group of foes. Zeke couldn't hold his rage back any longer. With a loud battle cry, he ran at Fang, his sword pointed forward. With his ultimate eye, Fang easily avoided the attack, and dealt out a counterattack. Driving his sword deep in Zeke's abdomen. He kicked Zeke aside, back toward the group. He snapped his fingers and the chimera began attacking as he walked through them back into the building. Anthony protected Zeke while Jennifer tried to heal Zeke's wound, and the others were fighting with the chimera. A chimera pounced at Anthony, but he quickly slit the beast's throat. "Anthony..." Zeke said weakly.

Anthony rushed to Zeke's side. "what is it?"

Zeke was crying, but not from the pain. "That's definitely Thomas...his sword skills are the same...why doesn't he remember me?"

Anthony shook his head. "A homonculus doesn't remember their former life, he is simply the same soul in a new body. What's worse is he has regeneration abilities, from what I've heard from my grandpa's journal."

Zeke coughed up some blood. "Hold still." Jennifer told him as she continued to heal his wounds.

Zeke looked up at Anthony. "how do we defeat him then?"

Anthony thought for a while and nodded. "you need to have a piece of their original body in order to kill them, that's what makes them vulnerable."

Zeke stood up, his wound healed, but his breath still quickened. "Does it have to be from a certain time in their life?"

Anthony shook his head. "I don't think so."

Zeke pulled a box from his pocket, showing the two lochs of hair inside. "my mother kept these from our first haircuts, as mementos. I don't remember whose is whose though."

Anthony nodded and took one, tying it around the wrist of his armor. Zeke did the same with the hilt of his sword and the two nodded at each other. "Jennifer, stay here and help the others, Zeke and I will handle this."

Jennifer nodded and the two ran towards the doors of the building, fighting off chimera as they went. Alicia fought hand in hand with Edward, who was incredibly adept at most forms of alchemy. He could quickly switch between his left hand earth and his right hand botany. The chimera were hard to fight, coming from all sides the group barely had time to react to each new attack. Trevor torched one after the other, but the flames were a slow kill for some of the chimera. One was able to shake off the flame and pounced on Trevor. He did his best to keep the chimera at bay, but his strength was fading as he held back the jaws of the creature. Just when he thought this was it, something pounced on the beast and pinned it to the ground. After Trevor regained his composure, he looked over and saw his saviors. The two dogs Breda had given to him ripped out the throat of the beast and ran to the sides of their master. He smiled down at the dogs and pet their heads. "I guess I shouldn't have left you behind. Thanks."

he looked into their eyes and saw the compassion flowing out. He smiled and stood up, his finger ready to snap as the dogs faced down their enemy. "Alright," he said. "Let's go, Roy, Riza."

the dogs howled and pounced at some oncoming chimera, and the fight was on.

Anthony and Zeke climbed the stairs, searching every crevice for Fang. They had searched the whole building, and came to the roof. He wasn't there either, all they could see were the chimera in the courtyard fighting their friends. "Quite a view isn't it?" came Fang's voice from behind.

The two turned around and got into battle position, looking at Fang standing there, his hair brushed over his ultimate eye. Anthony glared and clapped his hands, sending a wave of spikes at his opponent, to no avail. Fang simply side stepped them and ran at Anthony, his sword held high. Anthony ran at Fang with his wrist sword, the hair strand wrapped around his wrist. The two clashed, and Anthony sliced across Fang's neck, but the wound immediately healed, and Anthony was kicked away, a bad wound in his abdomen. "Insolent fool, you can't kill me that way." he said as his wound finished healing.

Zeke ran at his former brother and sliced him across the chest. "Well how about me?" he screamed.

Fang expected the wound to heal, but it didn't, he looked up, realizing his vision was worsening. "It can't be...where the hell did you get part of my body."

Zeke's face was flooded with tears as he held his sword up against his opponent. "We're brothers Thomas, don't you remember?"

Fang stood up and glared at Zeke. "My name is Fang the Proud, Human."

he ran at Zeke to strike, but Zeke saw right through the attack and twisted his heel, ending up behind his brother. He dug his blade deep in Fang's abdomen, and Fang fell to the ground. As he tried to get up, Zeke held the tip of his blade against his throat. "Don't move..."

the two stared at each other for a long time, until Fang finally spoke up. "Go ahead, finish me off!"

Zeke's hand shivered, and he dropped his sword. "I can't."

Zeke turned away, leaving his brother there, in his weakened state. Fang saw this as an opportunity to strike back, and ran at Zeke's unguarded back. "Zeke watch out!" Anthony cried, running in front of him.

Fang's upward slash caught Anthony's mask and cut it in half, barely missing the lucky alchemist. Fang looked at Anthony's face and suddenly he had a headache, beginning to remember his battle with Anthony in the weapons factory. "Wh-what the hell is going on?"

Zeke looked over and helped Anthony up. "Thanks Anthony."

Fang's wounds were getting to him, he could barely stand anymore. "you! Cast Iron Alchemist! Just who the hell are you?"

Anthony glared at him. "I'm Anthony Elric! Grandson of Edward Elric!"

Fang glared, not getting the answer he expected. He noticed a notebook on the ground and ran to it, picking it up. Anthony gasped as he saw his grandfather's journal in the enemy's hands. "Put that down!"

Fang smirked as he flipped through the pages. "Fuhrer Simon will be happy to have this."

Anthony glared and ran at him, but Fang jumped off the building and ran off. The rest of the group joined the two upstairs just moments later and saw the sight. Blood was spilt everywhere and Anthony was on the ground, his mask cut in half in front of them. "Anthony!" Alicia screamed.

She ran to his side, and Zeke moved out of the way. Anthony quickly got up and picked up the two halves of his mask. "I'm okay, he didn't even graze me."

just then, the sun rose in the south, bathing it in lovely orange. Anthony walked to the edge of the building, and Alicia followed. "Trevor, take everyone and start laying the explosives, I want to talk to Alicia for a moment."

Trevor nodded and led the group off the roof. Alicia looked confused and turned to face his back in the sunrise. "Anthony...?"

Anthony gulped and shut his eyes. "Alicia, I want you to go back to Risembool where it's safe, I don't want you following us to Central. It's too dangerous there, you might be killed."

Alicia shook her head and moved closer. "I don't want to go back to Risembool, my place is with the brigade, I'm not leaving until we're finished."

Anthony turned around to protest, but his thoughts were interrupted when his lips met with hers. She softly broke the kiss and looked up at him. "When we walked down that road together eleven months ago, I started that journey with you, and I can't leave until it's finished. Grandma Winry once said to me that I'm here to make your risks less risky, and I intend to do that until the very end."

she looked up at him with the most serious of faces. "I'm part of the Fullmetal Brigade and I'm not leaving until our mission is done."

Anthony stared down at her, surprised at her bravery, and nodded softly, smiling. "Alright, we're in this until the end."

the two shared one more kiss, and made their way off the roof.

After the building was demolished, the group quickly went back to Devil's nest and began packing. Anthony smiled at Trevor trying to control his two dogs and pack at the same time. "So have you decided on the names of our two little canine companions?" he asked.

Trevor looked over at him and nodded, smiling. "Roy and Riza."

Anthony smiled and walked over, tearing a strip off the bottom of Trevor's navy blue brigade jacket. "Well Roy and Riza," he began, transmuting the cloth, "Welcome to the Fullmetal Brigade."

he smiled, wrapping a bandanna around each of their necks with the brigade symbol on them. The two dogs seemed to enjoy the new marks. Trevor smiled and turned them around as the group left for the train station.

Simon threw his wine glass at the wall, enraged. "Damnit! Damnit Damnit Damnit Damnit!"

A soldier walked in and cautiously walked up to his desk. "Sir please, you need to calm down."

Simon grabbed the soldier by his neck and lifted him into the air. "Calm? How am I supposed to stay calm? The entire city is demanding I make a public appearance, Edward Elric's Grandson is after my head, and That god damn Fullmetal Brigade is breathing down my neck! How do you expect I stay calm?"

Simon's leading alchemist walked into the room as he dropped the deceased soldier to the ground. "Sir, I think I have a few suggestions for how you can deal with these problems."

Simon glared at the advisor, expectant to hear his solution. "Sir, you are young enough to claim you are your own son."

Simon began to calm down and smiled devilishly. "Yes, yes that's right. I could be my own son."

this idea led Simon to other ideas as he tossed Ed's journal at the alchemist. "Follow the path to the underground city the book describes, I want to know exactly what's going on down there. And Take a look at that circle in the back of the book too, judging from the smudges, the Cast Iron Alchemist has been looking at that page a lot."

the Alchemist saluted and left the room, and Simon stared out of his window down at the courtyard once again. "You think you've beaten me, you think you've won, but I'll show you not to mess with President Fuhrer King Simon Cast Iron! I'll bring down your entire world, Anthony Elric."


	9. Chapter 9

Cast Iron Alchemist

Final Chapter: Revolution

Simon stood in his office, staring out the window at the people below. His eyes were filled with a feeling of victory. "Soon, Cast Iron Alchemist," he said, "Soon I will rise to victory."

The head alchemist walked in and saluted his Fuhrer. "Sir, the tailor is requesting you be fitted for your ceremonial garb."

Simon nodded and walked away from the window, leaving the room with the alchemist. "have you investigated that book yet?"

the alchemist nodded and handed him a report. After flipping through it, he smiled and wrote down some new instructions, handing it to the alchemist. "I want all of that done before my announcement next week."

the alchemist saluted and left to fulfil the instructions.

The train stopped in Central, and the group got out to stretch their legs. Along with Edward, they made sure they were the last to arrive. The group made their way through the streets of Central, feeling a new atmosphere as they walked down the sidewalk. The town had clearly changed, people felt more determined, less informed, and fliers filled the streets. Walking down the more public streets, the brigade symbol was spray painted and indented into walls. Finally, the group slipped into the sewers in an abandoned alleyway, and made their way through to laboratory 5. waiting there to welcome them was Samantha, smiling and waving. "Yoohoo! Anthony over here!"

Alicia couldn't help but glare as she singled out Anthony, and the group joined up with their comrade. "It's nice to see you again Samantha," Anthony said, smiling. "Has everything been taken care of?"

Samantha nodded and took them back upstairs to the top floor, where their room had been prepared. She handed Anthony a newspaper which read, "FUHRER REVEALS HIMSELF ON MONDAY, WHOLE TOWN EXPECTANT" Anthony couldn't help but smile as he stared out the window. He had a clear view of Central Headquarters. "Monday, we have one week to prepare. Samantha, where's the phone I sent over, I need to make a call."

Samantha smiled and led him out, and the rest of the group began unpacking. Trevor layed back on his bed, smiling at the ceiling. "This is it, we're actually doing this. I can't believe after all this time, all this work, we're finally almost done."

Jennifer smiled and stared out the window, adjusting her glasses. "This time, I'll do my best to protect everyone" she said as she looked down at her mask from the north. "This time..."

Alicia took out her picture of her and Winry and smiled. "This is the biggest risk we've ever faced, I have my work cut out for me."

Zeke smiled and sat down, his abdomen wound still bandaged. "No matter what, I'll help my brother."

the group looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. Anthony returned after a while and smiled at the group. "It's good to see you all determined, we're going to need that resolve to win this battle. Alright, we're on a 14 hour training regimen until Sunday, when I announce my plan to the entire brigade. It's now, nearly a year later, when all of our hard work, from the moment I walked off that porch, that we end this."

the entire group hung on his every word until he was done, and then they all got ready to go train.

Laboratory 5 had been turned into an amazing underground citadel by the group that came before them. Using the rubble from the underground city, they were able to build a giant meeting hall, a smithy, and multiple training rooms for the hundreds of brigade members residing there. Alicia was alone, practising her botany, while Trevor worked on his team work with his two dog team mates. Zeke practised especially hard on his swordsman skills, determined to defeat his brother and save him from his fate. Jennifer's practice worked more into books than actual practice of alchemy, studying up on human anatomy and the circulatory system. Anthony was practising the hardest, working his best to master all of the techniques his grandfather had left behind for him. He had been practising for hours before he finally needed to stop for a break. Sitting down, he took out his grandfather's pocketwatch and looked at it, careful to open the rusted hinge. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll turn this into a world you'll be proud of."

Two young black haired boys played in the snow of northern Amestris, fighting with wooden swords. They laughed and danced around as they pretended to fight with each other. They continued to play, until they heard a bell in the distance. The two ran together, smiling as they went home to their mother, a lovely young woman with calm blue eyes. The two boys walked inside and up to bed, where they layed to rest. But the boy on the left was being shrugged awake. He could hear the voice of the woman as she spoke. "Fang? Fang?"

"Fang!" Simon screamed at the homonculus.

Fang suddenly awoke and sat up, his hand on his sword. Simon looked at him. "What's wrong with you? I've been trying to wake you up for five minutes now."

Fang took his hand off his blade and calmed down. "My apologies sir, I was caught in a deep sleep."

Simon scoffed and walked to the window. "Whatever, I need you to go see the tailor about a change of clothes, you'll be my body guard when I'm on stage giving my speech."

Fang saluted and left the room to go toward the tailor's work room, but was hit with another headache, and another memory.

This time he was in a tournament, facing off with a young Zeke. Zeke seemed wary as he faced off against his brother, but Fang smiled across at his brother. "Don't shudder like that, you're Claw, the fearless swordsman. If you don't show your best right now, I'll just kick your ass later."

Zeke thought for a second and smiled, nodding across at his brother as he raised his sword. "Right, I'm not going to lose."

The horn blew to signal the start of the round, and the two brothers went at each other. Their swords clashed over and over, neither of them forfeiting to the other. Finally, Zeke went in for the final blow, but Fang was able to stealthily evade the shot, and slice him across the chest. Zeke fell, defeated, and the crowd cheered as Fang was named the champion. Zeke took off his torn shirt, the powerful armor underneath protecting him from the lethal blow. He smiled, proud for his brother who had worked so hard to win. Zeke and Fang were both unaware, however, that the winner was going to be immediately drafted into the army. It wasn't anymore than two days later that Fang was dragged off by the military, with Zeke screaming for them to stop and let him go.

Zeke woke up in a fright, breathing heavily after his vivid dream. He looked around the room at the others sleeping there and sighed. It seemed like only yesterday that his brother had been taken away, when in reality it was nearly four years. He sighed and tried his best to get back to sleep, laying down and staring at the ceiling through his closed eyelids. One week, so little time to get ready for the battle that lied ahead.

The next day the group continued their training, except for Anthony, who was decked out in his brigade gear. He had a special mission he had to tend to, something he didn't want anyone else joining in with him for. Using the sewers, he found the underground tunnel and quietly entered into the building's basement. There he met two alchemists of many on the inside, who gave him a quick uniform to put on, so that he would appear inconspicuous. He made his way cautiously down the halls, doing his best not to bring attention to himself. He walked up to the main building, and the Fuhrer's personal guards stopped him at the door. "halt, no entrance without proper reason."

Anthony held up a letter with a forged military wax seal. "This is a message for the head Alchemist from the Fuhrer with instructions that it be hand delivered by me."

he was careful about picking a time when Simon would be outside the main building. His ruse worked and he was allowed in. Once inside, he made is way up the stairs to the Fuhrer's office. He stopped in the Fuhrer's hallway, where he had last had his bought with Simon. He looked around, feeling moderately nostalgic about where he was. The blood had been cleaned up, but the statue Anthony had broken last time he was here had yet to be repaired. Without wasting anymore time, Anthony made his way down the hall to the Fuhrer's office, and walked inside. Seeing that there wasn't anyone there, he began searching the Fuhrer's office, and came across what he was looking for. In a locked top drawer, which he managed to open with some careful lock picking, he found his grandfather's journal. He smiled, and replaced it with a paper with the brigade symbol on it, being careful to lock it again. With the journal safely tucked in his back pocket, Anthony climbed out the window to the balcony, and from there made his escape, transmuting the uniform into shreds of blue cloth. He scattered the rags off the roof behind the building, where no one would find them. With the scraps taken care of, Anthony retreated back into the sewers and laboratory 5.

Simon made his way back up to his office after a long day of preparation for his speech on Monday. As he entered his office, something felt wrong. He ran up to his desk and searched through his desk, taking the key from his pocket to check the journal. When he opened the drawer, all he saw was the brigade symbol on a piece of paper. His rage grew as he tore up the paper. "Elric!" he yelled, clenching his fist.

He called the guards in, doing his best to calm down. "The Cast Iron Alchemist was here! I want him found and brought to me at once!"

the guards saluted and began searching the building.

The group was waiting for Anthony when he returned, all of them tired from a long day of training. They looked at him with anticipation, and he pulled out the notebook from his back pocket, smiling. The group cheered, happy to see their pseudo bible back in the brigade's hands. Anthony smiled and flipped through the book. "Alright, we're almost set, come Sunday, we'll assemble the forces and go through with the plan."

the group smiled, determined to combat the enemy.

Trevor walked through the streets of Central, looking around at the buildings as he walked. Finally, he stepped into the cemetery, walking through the rows of graves to the military area, and up to Maes Hughes' grave. He didn't say anything for a while, and eventually he smiled and sighed. "Thank you." he finally said, and stepped away from the grave.

He moved over a few rows and found his father's grave. "ROY MUSTANG, TRAITOR OF THE STATE" the stone couldn't help but dampen his spirits. He stared at the gravestone for a moment and put his hands in his pockets. "I promise," he said seriously, "The next time someone looks at your gravestone, it's going to say 'hero of the state.' I'll make mom and you proud, and I'll run this country properly."

he pulled his hand out of his pocket. In his hand, he had a pair of flame alchemy gloves, with red silk instead of his blue, and they looked old. He set the gloves down on top of the grave and walked away, trying to hide the tears flowing down his cheeks.

Finally, Sunday had come. Anthony stood on the balcony in the meeting hall, looking down on over two hundred brigade members, separated by their factions, with the leaders at the front. Samantha, the Gemstone Alchemist, Edward, the Devoted Son Alchemist, And Adam, the Flash Freeze Alchemist, substituting for Zeke. Anthony smiled as they all looked up at him with anticipation. "Almost a year ago," Anthony began, "I left Risembool with only a single ally. Now, I have more than a hundred. You are all members of the Fullmetal Brigade, and as such, you are an integral part of this mission. Each and every one of you, North, South, East, and West, are my allies, and my friends. Now listen up, because this is my plan."

all the soldiers in the brigade's army listened intently to Anthony as he continued. "Tomorrow, when Fuhrer Simon stands on his balcony, all the soldiers will be in the streets, and all the civilians will be watching from the rooftops. I don't know how he plans to reveal himself without revealing his secret, but we're going to make sure it gets out anyway. All of you will be on the rooftops, except for our ears on the inside, and when I yell out the signal, you'll transmute your jackets back into your brigade jackets, put on your masks, and split up into your designated assignments. At the start of this assembly you were each given a slip of paper, Team A or Team B. Team A is the combat team, you'll be jumping from the rooftops to join our allies on the inside, I won't lie that this will be a tough battle, but it's the battle we need to fight. Team B, we can't forget about the safety of civilians, you will be in charge of leading all of the civilians of the town out of Central. You have just as important a job, civilian casualties are the last thing we need. Team A, Team B. Both of these teams are required to call this battle a complete success. We are going to save this country, and we are going to make this the country my grandfather saw, and the country I saw as well."

he ended the speech with a roaring cheer of "Alchemists for the People!" and stepped off the stage.

Anthony stood on the roof of laboratory 5, staring out as the sun rose on the clear Monday morning. His mind was deep in thought of all the events that lead up to this fateful day. Alicia climbed the stairs and saw him there, staring out into the horizon. She smiled and sat down on the roof, her legs hanging over the edge. "It's beautiful isn't it?"

he looked over at her and nodded slightly. "Yeah."

Alicia stood up and walked over, kissing him softly on the cheek. "Everyone's waiting for you downstairs, once we finish with this battle and everything's restored, we can find a way to get you home."

she smiled and walked back down the stairs, leaving him alone on the roof again. "Right, home." he said quietly.

Without another word, he walked back downstairs and looked around at the group. It all seemed like such a short time, he had made so many new friends. Botanic Alchemist Alicia, the girly young botanist from Risembool with a talent in alchemy. Blue Flame Alchemist Trevor, the once lone wolf ex heir who lived in solitude in his shack, grieving over his dead mother and despising his heroic father. Now a man who has pride in his family, and a pride for himself. Prison Medic Alchemist Jennifer, the wallflower who lived her life in a prison camp, with a talent in medical alchemy. Spirit Blade Alchemist Zeke, the swordsman from the north with strong family ties. Gemstone Alchemist Samantha, the rough and rowdy earth alchemist with a passion for life. Devoted Son Alchemist Edward, named after a proud hero by his loving foster mother, who taught him to master alchemy. And Cast Iron Alchemist Anthony Elric, the grandson of Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric, and brigade founder, determined to make the world his grandfather strived to create. He smiled at the group and put on his mask, transmuted back together. "Fullmetal Brigade," he said, "Move out!"

the group nodded and they dispersed, getting into position for the plan. Anthony watched from his perch, making sure not to be seen. He stared expectantly at the balcony where Simon would appear. "The stage is set," he said quietly, "This will be the final battle."

The sun rose to the center of the sky, as the doors to the balcony opened. The entire town watched with confusion as Simon stepped out onto the balcony with Fang. The crowd was roaring with whispers. "I'm sure you are all confused." Simon said. "I'm afraid to say that my father, President Fuhrer King Simon, has been dead for some time. To protect the state in this time of need, I, his son, took his place. I am President Fuhrer King Cameron."

Anthony saw this as his chance, and jumped from his hiding place onto the wall next to the balcony. "So that's your game, is it Simon?" he yelled.

With quick hands, he transmuted his wrist blade and ran toward the balcony. Fang quickly ran in front of Simon, but was knocked aside by a pillar of stone from the building, helpfully transmuted by Edward from behind a building. Dashing as fast as he could, Simon didn't have time to draw his sword before Anthony slit his throat. The group was filled with fear as they saw Simon fall dead on the balcony. Anthony looked to the crowd and addressed them. "People of Central, it's not what you think. Watch!"

Anthony turned back to Simon and waited him out. Eventually, Simon had no choice but to repair his wound, the other choice being death. Simon gasped for breath and looked at the crowd with his blood red eyes. The crowd turned into an uproar of voices as Anthony climbed up on top of the building. "Amestrians!" he yelled out, "This is not Cameron, as he would like you to believe, but Fuhrer King Simon, kept alive by means of philosopher's stones!"

Simon glared up at Anthony, holding his neck. "Cast Iron Alchemist."

Anthony turned to his enemy, his glove tightly secured on his hand, and pressed it to his foe's stomach. With a flash of red light, Simon screamed and fell to the ground, and began vomiting red water. Anthony smiled at the crowd and yelled out to them, "Fullmetal Brigade! Now!"

with that final utterance, the brigade members transmuted their jackets, placed on their masks, and moved into their groups. Simon glared at the crowd with defeat and retreated back into the building. Anthony dove down to stop him, but was knocked aside by a vengeful Fang, who retreated with Simon. Anthony fell from the high balcony down to the ground. Alicia saw him falling and and quickly transmuted a collection of soft bushes for him to fall into. She ran over to the bushes to help him up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

He rubbed his head and smiled, removing the philosopher's glove and replacing it with a regular alchemy glove. "Yeah, I'm fine."

she smiled back and the two turned to join the battle.

Simon walked the halls of Central headquarters angrily. He had stripped his ceremonial garb and was left in his normal clothing underneath. Fang followed obediently at his side. "Damn that Cast Iron Alchemist." he said. "he ruined everything."

Fang looked at Simon and saluted. "Sir, what do you recommend we do now?" he asked.

Simon looked over at fang and smirked. "Don't you worry Fang, I've planned something special in case something like this happened. All I need you to do is go down to the base floor and make sure no one reaches me in the basement, understood?"

Fang saluted again and nodded. "Yes sir!"

Anthony was pinned back by a powerful soldier, but was able to quickly turn the tables and dig his wrist sword into the man's chest. Pulling it out, he turned to the rest of the group, all together fighting. "Zeke, Alicia, Jennifer, Trevor!" he said. "They've got enough strong alchemists out here, we need to get inside the base and hit them where it hurts."

the group nodded and followed Anthony as he made his way inside to the courtyard. They were met with heavy defence, which was split in half as Trevor snapped his fingers. As the cloud subsided, Roy and Riza dove in, fangs bared, and began fighting. They did their best to fight through the courtyard, but the enemy offensive was too powerful. As they prepared to retreat, the enemy soldiers were met with a mighty rock blast. The group turned and saw Samantha, standing there with Adam and Edward, her hand to the ground. "Anthony!" she screamed proudly.

Adam smiled and adjusted his glove. "Get in there and finish this." he said.

Edward made a toothy smile and gave the group a thumbs up. "We'll cover you from here!"

Anthony smiled and nodded. He looked to his group and they all nodded to him too. With that settled, they made their way to the giant secure doors of the main building. With some black powder and a snap of the finger, the doors exploded open, nearly falling off it's hinges. Standing there, waiting for them, was Fang. The group readied themselves as they saw him through the clearing smoke. "You will not get past this point, by orders of the Fuhrer." he said, drawing his sword.

Zeke had his sword ready, pointed at his opponent. "Cast Iron, you find the Fuhrer, I'll face him."

Anthony shook his head. "We don't even know where the Fuhrer is, it's too risky to leave you here by yourself."

Fang looked around at the group. "The Fuhrer is in the basement, if you wish to go, I won't stop you, so long as the Spirit Blade Alchemist stays."

the group looked surprised, it was clear that Fang had his own reasons for this deal, but Anthony was suspicious to trusting him. "Neither of you raises their sword until we're out of sight, understood?"

Fang nodded and kept his blade sheathed and his arms crossed. The group carefully made their way around Fang, all except for Zeke. Anthony looked at him for a long time. "Spirit Blade," he said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Zeke nodded. "It's what we both want. Go, Cast Iron."

Anthony nodded and the group disappeared down the steps. Zeke and Fang both drew their blades, staring each other down. "Your name," Fang said, "It's Zeke, correct?"

Zeke looked surprised and tightened his grip on his blade. "How do you know that?"

Fang shook his head. "Never mind that. Zeke, if you would, please fight me without your mask."

Zeke froze up for a second, and finally nodded, tossing his mask aside. Fang looked at his face and thought to himself for a long moment. 'Their faces,' he thought, 'they're the same.'

Finally, Fang lunged at Zeke, and the two clashed blades. Zeke pushed him back and made a counter attack, which Fang ducked under. The two fought hard, slashing and countering, slicing and parrying. Fang was ready to attack, but another headache caused him to lose focus, and he was instead sliced across the arm. He picked himself up, and suddenly he remembered more. He remembered the torture the government put him through to make him a loyal soldier, claiming his family dead, killed by threats to the state. Fang picked himself up and held his blade in defence. Zeke had enough, he ran at his opponent with his sword forward. Fang stealthily evaded the attack, ready with his own counter, but before he could Zeke side stepped him back, digging his sword deep in his enemy. Zeke stood there, shivering with anger and remorse as he saw his blade driven through his brother's chest. Fang looked up at him, and couldn't help but smile. "Don't shiver like that, " he said weakly, "You're Claw, the fearless swordsman."

Zeke gasped and backed away, letting Fang fall to the ground. "If you hadn't given your all, I would have kicked your ass later."

Zeke shook his head, not wanting to believe what he just heard. Finally, he could not ignore it anymore. "Thomas!" he yelled, running to his brother's side.

He pulled the sword out of his brother's chest and tossed the sword across the room. Frantically, he searched his pockets, putting on his alchemy glove. "It's not a medical glove," Zeke told his unconscious brother, "But it should hold over until your regeneration kicks in."

he began sealing his brother's wound with alchemy, hoping it wasn't too late.

Anthony ran frantically down the stairs, determined to finish this battle. As he climbed down to the basement, he was met with Simon, standing in the center of a circular room. He smiled at his foe, drawing his sword. "Cast Iron Alchemist." he said. "Or should I say...Anthony Elric?"

the group wasn't impressed with his knowledge. They said nothing as they took battle stance. Simon laughed at them. "I must say, you do look menacing. But I'm not going to fall for it!"

he ran headlong at Anthony, ready to slice. Anthony twisted his heel and ended up behind Simon, where he slit his throat and tossed him across the room. As the group turned to leave, saying nothing, a sword flew by Anthony's head. He turned around to see who attacked him and couldn't believe his eyes. There stood Simon, his regenerative abilities healing his neck wound again. "Surprised?" he asked, an evil smirk on his face. "You may have destroyed the philosopher's stones in my stomach, but you couldn't stop the ones already in my circulatory system. As long as I have stone enriched blood cells, you can't beat me, Cast Iron Alchemist, and by my calculations, the last blood cells won't be replaced until midnight tonight. I'll say it again Elric, you've lost. Now let this rubble be your tomb!"

he pressed his hands to the ground and destroyed the floor with alchemy, causing the group to fall deep down into the underground city. Anthony did his best to pacify his descent, but failed, and fell unconscious.

Samantha, Edward, and Adam were standing with their backs in a triangle. They were beaten down and tired, their spirits wavered by the sheer numbers they were fighting against. "I don't think we can win this fight guys." Samantha told them.

Edward's arms hung at his sides, his breathing heavy. "Well, No one can say we didn't do our best, right?"

Adam's eyes were full of determination. "I hate to admit it, but I think this is the last fight we'll be fighting, and I couldn't be prouder. I hope we bought Anthony enough time."

Just as they were ready to concede defeat, a loud gunshot was heard from a nearby rooftop. The three looked up at the nearby wall. Standing there, his military general's coat replaced with a Brigade jacket, was General Kain Fuery. Around him were more than a hundred soldiers wearing the same jacket as the rest of them. "Sorry we're late," he yelled down to them, adjusting his glasses, "Never trust a private to give you your phone messages!"

Anthony awoke amongst rubble, slightly dazed. As he tried to get up, he felt a great pain in his leg. Looking down, he saw the rock crushing it. With some trouble, he was able to push the large rock off, but the leg was broken. Anthony looked through his pocket and found the medical glove he had packed, doing his best to fix the leg. As he stood up, he found it a bit uncomfortable, but he could manage. Looking around, he saw a couple of the others unconscious, but in good shape. Waking them all up, he got the group together, doing mental roll call. Anthony's expression went from relieved to concerned when he realized they were missing someone. "Where's Alicia?" he asked the group.

Trevor shook his head, and so did Jennifer. Neither of them knew. Anthony looked around, trying to find her, when his attention was brought toward a large doorway. His instincts told him to stay away, but he knew, somehow, Alicia was through there. The group entered the building, keeping their guard up as they walked down the long hallway. At the end, they saw a large room with an elevated platform. Anthony walked forward when he heard a familiar voice. "Anthony, you have to leave now! It's a trap!" came Alicia's voice.

Simon revealed himself on the tall platform, his blade held to Alicia's throat. "Alicia!" Anthony cried. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

Simon held the blade closer to her throat. "Not so fast Cast Iron Alchemist, I have a proposition for you."

Anthony paused, his wrist blade held in combat stance. Simon tossed down a philosopher's stone, landing at Anthony's feet. Crouching down, he picked it up and looked it over. "You're bribing me with a philosopher's stone?"

Simon smirked and shook his head. "No. Look at the ground below you, you're standing on a giant transmutation circle."

Anthony looked down and saw the lines engraved deep in the floor. "We rebuilt this circle using the design in your grandfather's journal, it's the same one that you took here, but it's built to go back to your home, where your grandfather lived. You can go back to your world Elric, back to your life on the other side. All you need to do is offer that philosopher's stone to the portal. You can live there, or die here, in a world you weren't even supposed to know about. It's your choice."

Anthony thought for a long time, staring at the philosopher's stone. Finally, he crouched down, placing his palm on the ground. Simon laughed ghoulishly, watching Anthony activate the circle. "That's it, leave Amestris to the Amestrians, Cast Iron."

Alicia did her best to struggle against her captor. "Anthony no! We need you!"

Anthony said nothing as the eye opened up beneath him, and the room filled with steam. When the steam cleared, Anthony was gone. The group stared at the spot where he stood, feeling betrayed. For a while it was silent, until finally Simon cackled in victory. "It worked, he's gone. Is this the bond of your 'Fullmetal Brigade'? Pathetic! I've won this round!"

just then, the circle began to glow again, and another cloud of steam was created. From the steam, a large piece of cast iron was thrown, slicing across Simon's arm. As he pulled away from the pain, the cloud subsided, and there stood Anthony. "You haven't won yet Simon!"

Alicia lit up as she saw him in the steam. "Anthony!" she said happily, jumping from the high pedestal.

She ran up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He hugged her back, smiling. "miss me?" he asked.

She smiled and looked up at him. "What happened? I thought you left for your world."

Anthony sighed and shut his eyes. "My world...I've been thinking about that for a while now. Earth, where I was born, where my family is. Amestris, where my family comes from, where I've made a lot of friends. Even so, neither of these are my world."

Alicia looked up at him, confused. "Alicia," he said, smiling down at her, setting a hand gently on her cheek, "you are my world."

Alicia's face lit up as she heard him say that, a blush running across her face. "Anthony..."

Just then, they heard a groaning from on top of the pedestal, Simon had finally recovered. His regeneration ability had slowed down a moment, the philosopher's stones were starting to wear off. He jumped from the pedestal and landed across the room. Anthony beckoned Alicia to go back and join the others, and she quickly obeyed. Simon looked up, just as the last of his arm was regenerating. "Why do you continue to be a pain in my side?" he asked angrily.

Anthony smirked and transmuted his wrist sword. "I guess that's just how I am."

Simon growled and drew both his swords, getting into battle stance. "Give up Elric, you can't beat an immortal."

Anthony ran headlong at his opponent, ready to strike. "You're only immortal until midnight, I just have to wait you out!"

Anthony dug his blade into Simon's stomach, but received a painful strike to his side, getting kicked back. As Simon went in for a second strike, Anthony blocked with his sword. Simon's blade broke right through Anthony's wrist sword, breaking it off. As the blade flew through the air, Anthony jumped backward away from his enemy, pressing his hand to the ground. He began transmuting as Simon ran at him. Just in time, Anthony was able to block, raising the mighty griffin spear against his opponent. He knocked Simon away, lunging in with the spear. Simon knocked the spear out of his hands and dealt a lethal blow to Anthony's abdomen. Anthony fell to the ground in pain, and collapsed. Alicia's eyes were filled with tears. "Anthony!" she screamed.

She tried to run to his side, but Trevor and Jennifer held her back. "No!" Trevor told her. "It's too dangerous, you'll only get in his way."

Simon smirked and sheathed his swords, turning away. "Hey!" came Anthony's voice. "We aren't done yet!"

Simon turned around, and saw Anthony, forcing himself up on two feet, a philosopher's stone against his wound. He smiled a proud and victorious smile at his opponent. Simon glared and drew his sword, walking up to Anthony. "This time," Simon said, driving his sword through Anthony's stomach, "Stay dead!"

Anthony smirked and wrapped an arm around Simon's neck. Simon looked at him suspiciously, unable to back away. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

using his other hand, Anthony drew a transmutation circle on his leg with his blood. "A little trick I learned from one of your generals." he told Simon.

Pressing his palm to the circle, the alchemic energy ran down his leg and across the ground, kicking up the ground near the griffin spear. It flew gracefully through the air, flying straight through both Anthony and Simon, embedding itself in their flesh. Simon smirked at the frivolous plan. "You fool, I already told you, I'm immor-"

he was unable to finish as he coughed up blood. Shakily, Anthony pulled the watch from his pocket and opened it up. He smiled a proud smile. "Well, would you look at the time." he said victoriously. "Midnight..."

the two fell to the floor together. Simon's face had a look of fear and surprise. "It's not possible," he said, "Just what the hell are you?"

Anthony smirked and looked Simon in the eye. "I'm Anthony Elric." he said as he hit the ground, falling unconscious.

Anthony layed in the darkness, staring up at nothing. "So this is it." he said to himself. "At least, I got to save your world. And...I got to meet her."

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped the dark space. For a moment, it was hard to see, but as he adjusted to the light, he saw a figure. As he continued to adjust, he saw a young figure of his grandfather. He couldn't believe his eyes. He stood up, and faced his grandfather. "It's you..."

Ed smiled and nodded. "It's me Anthony. I'm proud of you."

Anthony smiled and wiped his eyes. "Well, at least I get to spend eternity with you."

Ed shook his head. "it's not your time yet Anthony, You've got someone waiting for you, you need to return to your world."

Anthony smiled and nodded. "There were so many things I wanted to tell you before you passed, but I never got to. Now all I want to say is...thank you."

Ed smiled and held out his automail hand. "I knew you'd put my old things to good use."

Anthony smiled and clasped his armored hand in Ed's automail one. For a while, the two just stared at each other and smiled, but eventually a door opened behind the two, and they knew it was time to say goodbye again. Anthony could hear the voices of his friends beyond the door. He smiled and turned back to Ed. "I have to go now, I'll see you around."

Ed nodded as he watched his grandson walk through the door, and the two shared one final smile between them. "Will you quit it with the sappy goodbyes? You know I always hated those. Get going, your world is waiting for you."

Anthony rose steadily from his bed, and before he could get a good look around, Alicia's arms wrapped around him. He smiled and hugged her back tightly, and looked around the room. Everyone was there. Trevor and his dogs, Zeke and Fang, Jennifer, Edward, Samantha, Adam, and even General Fuery. Anthony smiled at all of them. "We've done something really great here, we should all be proud."

he looked around the room and started on the left. "Fuery, without your help we couldn't have even taken those first steps. It's good to see my phone call made it to you, and thank you for all the help. Adam, Samantha, Edward. Thank you all, without your help and your friends, we wouldn't have been able to even fight this battle. Fang, I assume you've regained some memories, I'm glad to see you on my side this time. Zeke, you've been a worthy swordsman and a helpful ally, I'm glad I could bring you back together with your brother. Jennifer, you've had a hard life, it's time for you to relax. Trevor, I can't say much more than this, congratulations President Fuhrer King."

he smiled and looked over at the bright eyed chestnut brunette sitting near his bed. "Alicia, when I saw you on that day, when I saved your life, and when you saved mine. Thank you."

she smiled and held him tightly, resting her head in his chest. "You're welcome." she said softly.

The next day, everyone in Central was called. A funeral service was held for all those that died. Afterwards, everyone went back to Central headquarters. Trevor and the rest of the group stood on the balcony of the main building, looking out onto the courtyard. All the alchemists of the Fullmetal Brigade stood on the walls, watching as Anthony and Alicia stepped onto the teleportation circle. The two smiled at each other, and Anthony dropped the philosopher's stone to the ground. As the circle lit up with a red light, the couple shared a kiss, disappearing into the truth.

When they got to earth, it turned out to have only been 11 months in his world. When he climbed up from the basement with Alicia, his mother was hysterical upon seeing him. It took some time, but he was able to explain to her what had happened, and after being able to ease her into it, she was happy to see him again. Anthony was happy to be home, to see his family again, and happy that he was with Alicia.


	10. Epilogue

Cast Iron Alchemist

Epilogue

Anthony Elric

Upon returning home, Anthony returned to school, carrying the secrets of Amestris with him. He decided it was too dangerous to reveal the truth of another world to the people of this world. Finishing his education, he became an architect like he always planned, using the knowledge he drew from Amestrian architecture to create beautiful buildings in his own world. After spending years together with Alicia, he finally married her. They had two children, a girl and a boy. Out of respect for those that brought the two together, they named them Edward and Winry.

Anthony missed Amestris a lot, and always wished he could return. His wish was granted a couple of years after his return home, when a messenger in a Fullmetal Brigade jacket came to him with a letter from President Fuhrer King Trevor Mustang. It told him about how Amestris had changed, and the discovery of a vault full of philosopher's stones left over from the rule of Fuhrer Simon. With the help of the stones, Anthony and Alicia were able to make yearly visits back to Amestris.

Alicia Rivers/Elric

For a while, Alicia had trouble getting used to not using her alchemy, but was soon able to learn how to work with her hands in a more patient way. As she grew older, and built a family around herself, she never got over her love of plants. She loved plants almost as much as she loved her family, which led her to open her own business. In the small town they lived in, she found a location up for lease. With some work and a little help from Anthony, she was able to create a lovely flower shop, the most popular one in town. In a burst of nostalgia, she named the store "Botanic Alchemist" and has never regretted it. She always looks forward to their summer trips to Amestris, when she could show her children their roots.

Trevor Mustang

Trevor was a welcomed change to the previous regime. His welcome into the office of Fuhrer was the first sign of a change of pace, the start of a new Amestris. His first decree as Fuhrer was to change the Military's symbol. By now, the dragon in the triangles had become less a sign of freedom, and more a sign of fear. He tore apart the symbols of the old military, burning the banners of fear, and replacing them with the liberating snake around the cross.

The next thing he did was make sure to give credit where it was due, assigning military positions to the previous brigade members. Samantha became general of the West, a kind general whose only order to her soldiers was live life to the fullest. Edward, the devoted son he was, accepted the position of South general, with his only goal to make alchemists truly "for the people." Zeke and Fang took dual roles as North generals, happy to be a family again. Trevor's final offer of credit where it's due was to erect a statue in the center of Central, made to look like Anthony, with a caption "Hero of Amestris." when Anthony saw it, however, he shook his head, pressing his gloved palm to the stone and transmuting it into his own view of the hero, his grandfather.

Finally, Trevor fulfilled his promises. As promised, he had his father's gravestone revised, and was also able to have his mother moved and reburied next to him. He also made Rockbell Automail into a national landmark, and it also became the Elric's summer home when they visited. Trevor's dogs, Roy and Riza, also had puppies. As a thank you for rescuing him from a void of hatred, Trevor gave one of the pups to Anthony, for showing him the true heroism of his father's life.

Jennifer Meadows

Jennifer happily accepted the task of head medic, teaching new alchemists anatomy and medical alchemy. There she met a nice young man, who she fell in love with. Her medical skills and resolve to learn more and more led her to the cures for many diseases that ailed the people, as well as ways to make surgery safer. As she went through life, she never forgot her life as the Prison Medic Alchemist, and she always kept her mask hanging in her bedroom, to remind her of the past she took part in, in order to create this future.

Zeke and Thomas/Fang

being the famous swordsmen that they were, Zeke and Fang were welcomed additions to the Amestrian army. Though Zeke was accepted immediately, it took a bit longer for Fang, with his prior military background. The two once again became known as Claw and Fang, the famous swordsman duo. In the wars to come they were assets to combat, able to watch each other's back and slice up their enemies. Deep down, Zeke was just happy to have his brother back, and so was Fang. A family broken apart by military alliance was brought back together through rebellion.

Kain Fuery

With the rebellion over and the new government in place, General Fuery finally had the freedom to leave. His whereabouts are unknown, and his retirement unannounced. When Trevor went to greet and thank him, all he found was a note. The note told Trevor about his father, and told everyone that he was going to travel the world. Kain Fuery still sends unmarked letters to Trevor, describing his travels and keeping in touch, though it's unsure where he currently is.

Edward Elric

Edward's grave stood as it did when Anthony left. He made sure that the first thing he did when he returned was to visit his grandfather. Anthony stood in front of the gravestone for a long time, just staring at the words etched into it. Finally, he reached into his back pocket and crouched down, setting something down in front of the grave. Standing up, he smiled and quietly said "Thank you" to the stone. Wiping his eyes, he turned and began to leave.

Edward Elric's grave stood there, reading "Here Lies Edward Elric. Devoted father, Proud Grandfather." And sitting there, at the base of the gravestone, was an old family photo, and a rusted pocket watch with the lid open. On the inside of the lid it read, "Don't Forget, 3 Oct. 11."


	11. bonus: Roy and Riza

Cast Iron Alchemist

Bonus story: Roy and Riza

Roy sat in his office at home, listening to the propaganda going across the radio. For the past few months it had been the same smear campaign against him, "Roy Mustang killed the former Fuhrer in order to gain power for himself."

he would sit there for hours listening, his patched eye irritating him as he hung on the words. Finally, like every night, the pregnant Riza would walk in as he was half asleep and turn off the radio. She smiled down at him, resting a hand on her expanded belly. "You need to get your rest, Mr. Fuhrer King Roy Mustang." she told him.

He smiled and stood up, giving her a soft kiss. "You're right, as always." he agreed.

The two left the study and walked off toward the bedroom. "About the name," she said as they walked, "I was thinking Demitri."

Roy thought for a second and shook his head. "I knew a Demitri in the army training camp, he was a total fool." he told her.

Hawkeye rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You use that same excuse with every name I offer up. How about you make up one wise guy?" she asked.

Roy took some time and thought, in complete silence. He smiled and shut his eyes. "Trevor." he told her.

After a long time thinking, she shook her head. "Trevor? That hardly sounds like a name."

Roy sighed and shook his head. "That's why I don't suggest names, you just shoot them down."

The two laughed, walking into the master bedroom of the house. "Whatever, we don't need to think up a name right away. We still have a few months." she said.

Roy nodded, and the two got ready for bed. Once they had both layed down comfortably, they slowly fell asleep. They were unaware of the militia group slowly making their way through the town, bringing together an angry mob.

Simon led the group along with his four allies, moving toward the Mustang residence. He slammed his hand on the door, immediately waking Roy and Riza. She immediately went for the side table, but Roy stopped her, shaking his head. "you're in no condition to be firing a gun, I figured this would be happening eventually so I planned ahead." he told her, reaching into his own bedside table.

He pulled out a radio and turned it on. "move in through the secret passageway, it's time for the bird to fly."

all that came back was a familiar "Roger" and the sound of static. Roy led Riza downstairs into the basement, where Falman, Breda, Havoc, and Fuery were waiting to lead them down a hidden passageway. They had with them a backpack full of supplies and precious memories. Riza smiled as the two approached the hole. "I should have known you'd have a backup plan." she said softly.

Roy nodded, and pushed her into the arms of Breda and Havoc as Falman and Fuery closed the gate. Riza was confused and concerned as she looked through the locked gate. "Roy? What are you doing?" she asked emotionally.

Roy shook his head as he turned around, trying to hide his tears. "I'll just slow you all down. I'm not as young as I used to be. My eye is ruined, and with my chest wound I can't run very far, I would just keep you held up. Go, live your life."

She shook her head, crying as she struggled against the soldiers holding her back. "No! You can't do this to me! You can't be the one to take all the pain! Don't be so selfish!"

Roy walked to the nearby wall with a transmutation circle carved into it, and pressed his palm to it. "I love you." he said shakily through his tear ridden eye.

"Roy!" was the last thing he heard as the stone closed, hiding the path. Opening an old box in the basement, he found his old flame alchemy gloves, sliding them on as he walked upstairs. The militia broke through as he made his way toward the door. He was quickly bound and forced out of the house. "Search the house for Riza Hawkeye! Now!" Simon demanded.

Just before a group was about to return into the building, a mighty snap was heard, and the house exploded into flames. Simon glared at him and pulled the gloves from Roy's hands, slapping him across the face with them. "That will be your last trick old man!" he said to him.

Roy said nothing as he stood there.

Once Simon had placed himself into power, assuring everyone was aware of this change in control, he immediately prepared the public execution of Roy Mustang. Simon walked down the halls of the prison to Roy's cell far at the end. He looked in the bars at the man, slouching over the cot. "The famous Flame Alchemist, brought down to no more than a common criminal, how funny."

Roy said nothing, looking up to see his visitor, a smile on his face. Simon glared at him through the bars and unlocked the door, walking in and taking him by the collar of his shirt. "Why the hell are you smiling? You're about to be put to death!"

Roy's face was unwavered by this attempt at intimidation. "I guess I'm just the big fool everyone thought I was." he said, still smiling.

Simon growled and tossed him against the wall, leaving the cell.

The day had come for the execution, and everyone in Central was invited to watch. Roy Mustang was led to the gallows. Frostbite was waiting there, more than happy to fit him into the noose. "Roy Mustang," she began, walking over to the lever, "By order of the new military regime, you have been ordered to death. Do you have any last words?"

Roy looked up at the balcony where Simon waited in anticipation, then down in the crowd, where he saw his old friends right up front. Havoc brought a cigarette up to his mouth, giving him a stealthy thumbs up. Roy's smile stayed on his face as he shook his head. "I've tied up all the loose ends."

Frost gave him a quizzical look, but nodded. "Very well then. By order of the Amestrian Military, you are now ordered to death on the count of murder, to be carried out now."

with a pull of the lever, the floor collapsed underneath him. Simon looked victorious as he sat on top of the balcony, when a soldier approached him. "Sir, we searched the wreckage of the Mustang residence like you asked. I'm sorry, but no bodies were found."

Simon's mood immediately changed as he glared down at Roy, his teeth grinding. "Well played, Flame Alchemist, well played."

Roy Mustang hung there in front of the people of Central, a smile on his face.

A cart made it's way east across Amestris, carrying vegetables and a hitch hiker. A blonde woman sat next to the man driving the caravan, smiling. "Thank you so much for this."

the man shook his head and smiled. "A pregnant woman shouldn't be walking down the street alone, it's just not right."

the woman nodded and smiled, resting a hand on her pregnant belly. "So, have you thought up a name?" the man asked.

She thought for a second and nodded. "yes, I have the perfect name for him."

the man nodded. "That's good. And what might your name be?"

the woman sat up as the cart came to a stop. "My name is Gracia Hughes." she told him.

the man nodded and pulled out a birth certificate and ID, both reading "Gracia Hughes."

Gracia took them and hopped carefully off the cart. The man saluted and she saluted back. "Enjoy your new life, Ms. Gracia Hughes."

she smiled, carrying her bag and her new ID into the town she would now call home.


End file.
